Erik Lindegren (August 5, 1910 – May 31, 1968) was a Swedish author, poet, critical writer and member of the Swedish Academy (1962–68, chair 17). Grandson of composer Johan Lindegren. Lindegren was born in Luleå, Norrbotten County, the son of a railway engineer. With

Gunnar Ekelöf Bengt Gunnar Ekelöf (15 September 1907, in Stockholm – 16 March 1968, in Sigtuna) was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958 ...

, he belonged to the most prominent exponents of the lyric modernism flourishing in his country, especially from the 1940s. His poetry books include the surreal "shattered sonnets" in ''mannen utan väg'' ("The Man Without a Way", title without capital M; 1942, a breakthrough work of its generation and a central work in fyrtiotalism literature), ''Sviter'' ("Suites", 1947) and ''Vinteroffer'' ("Winter Sacrifice", 1954). He translated the works of T. S. Eliot, Rainer Maria Rilke,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

Saint-John Perse Alexis Leger (; 31 May 1887 – 20 September 1975), better known by his pseudonym Saint-John Perse (; also Saint-Leger Leger), was a French poet-diplomat, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative ...

, Dylan Thomas,

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

and many others into Swedish.''Britannica Book of the Year 1969'', covering events of 1968, (published 1969), "Obituaries 1968" article, item on "Lindegren, (J.) Erik", page 574 He took a keen interest in music, opera and the visual arts, and was an accomplished opera

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

at the Royal Swedish Opera, and also an informed and enthusiastic opera critic. Lindegren wrote the libretto for Karl-Birger Blomdahl's space opera ''

Aniara ''Aniara'' ( sv, Aniara : en revy om människan i tid och rum) is a book-length epic science fiction poem written by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson from 1953 to 1956. It narrates the tragedy of a large passenger spacecraft carrying a ...

'' among others. Between 1948 and 1950 he led the literary magazine ''Prisma'', one of the most lavish and broad ever produced in Sweden, aiming to "gauge the state of the arts in the present". Lindegren was elected a member of the Swedish Academy in 1962. He died from pancreatic cancer in 1968.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindegren, Erik 1910 births 1968 deaths People from Luleå Municipality Swedish male poets Dobloug Prize winners 20th-century Swedish poets Swedish translators Translators to Swedish 20th-century translators Opera librettists People from Luleå Members of the Swedish Academy