Karl Gunnar Harding (born 11 June 1940) is a Swedish poet, novelist, essayist and translator, considered 'one of Sweden's foremost poets'. Among his other poetry collections is ''Starnberger See'' from 1977. Among his novels is ''Luffaren Svarta Hästen'' from 1977. He published the children's book ''Mannen och paraplyet'' in 1990. He was awarded the

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize ( sv, Doblougska priset, no, Doblougprisen) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. T ...

in 2011.

Biography

Gunnar Harding was born in

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History Th ...

and brought up in

Bromma Bromma () is a borough (''stadsdelsområde'') in the western part of Stockholm, Sweden, forming part of the Stockholm Municipality. Bromma is primarily made up of Bromma Parish and Västerled Parish. The fourth largest airport in Sweden and the th ...

as the son of the doctor Gösta Harding. He studied painting in Stockholm and was a jazz musician before making his literary debut in 1967 with ''Lokomotivet som frös fast''. During his early career, Harding travelled extensively in America, and this influenced his work. Harding is noted primarily for his poetry (mostly in free verse but also significant prose-poetry). Alongside this, he has written essays, a book about the origins of jazz called ''Kreol'', and a few stories. He has also worked as an editor, for '' Lyrikvännen'' ('poetry-lover') 1971–1974, for '' Artes'' for many years, and for '' Artes International'' during its five-year run. He has been a member of the

Samfundet De Nio Samfundet De Nio (''The Nine Society'' or ''Society of the Nine'') is a Swedish literary society founded on 14 February 1913 in Stockholm by a testamentary donation from writer Lotten von Kraemer. The society has nine members who are elected for ...

(chair number 5) since 1993 and served on the 1973 Swedish Bible committion 1981–1989.Roger Greenwald, 'Introduction', in Gunnar Harding, ''Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding'', ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press, 2014), p. 13. Harding's literary significance is partly as an introducer of foreign modernism, especially French, American and British poetry, into Swedish literature. Harding also takes a lively interest in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and likes to read his poetry with jazz as background music.

Bibliography

Literary writing

* 1967 – ''Lokomotivet som frös fast'' * 1968 – ''Den svenske cyklistens sång'' * 1969 – ''Blommor till James Dean'' * 1970 – ''Örnen har landat'' * 1971 – ''Guillaume Apollinaires fantastiska liv'' * 1972 – ''Skallgång'' * 1974 – ''Poesi 1967–1973'' * 1975 – ''Ballader'' * 1977 – ''Starnberger See'' * 1977 – ''Luffaren Svarta Hästen och det hemska rånmordet i Leksand'' * 1978 – ''Bilddikt'', with Olle Kåks * 1978 – ''Den trådlösa fantasin'' * 1980 – ''Tillbaka till dig'' * 1983 – ''Gasljus'' * 1987 – ''Stjärndykaren'' * 1989 – ''Guillaume Apollinaires gåtfulla leende: en ändlös biografi'' * 1990 – ''Mannen och paraplyet'', text: Gunnar Harding; pictures: Catharina Günther-Rådström * 1990 – ''Mitt vinterland'' * 1991 – ''Kreol'' * 1993 – ''Överallt där vinden finns: dikter i urval 1969–1990'' * 1995 – ''Stora scenen'' * 2001 – ''Tal på Övralid 6 juli 2001'' * 2001 – ''Salongsstycken kring Dante Gabriel Rossetti'' * 2003 – ''Det brinnande barnet'' * 2007 – ''Dikter 1965–2003'' * 2009 – ''Innerstad'' * 2012 – ''Blues for Jimmy ; Nordvästexpressen ; Martin Luther King'' rom the author's original manuscript of ''Blommor till James Dean''(Tragus) * 2013 – ''Mitt poetiska liv'' (autobiography)

Translations by Harding into Swedish

* 1966 – ''4 poeter'', translations from

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. The author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, an ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

Anselm Hollo Anselm Paul Alexis Hollo (12 April 1934 – 29 January 2013) was a Finnish poet and translator. He lived in the United States from 1967 until his death in January 2013. Hollo published more than forty titles of poetry in the United Kingdom and ...

and Lionel Kearns (Bok och Bild) * 1969 – ''Amerikansk undergroundpoesi'' (

Wahlström & Widstrand Wahlström & Widstrand is a Swedish book publishing company. Wahlström & Widstrand was established in 1885 by two book sellers in Stockholm, Per Karl Wahlström and Wilhelm Widstrand. The company started publishing fiction in the 1890s and la ...

) * 1970 – Vladimir Majakovskij: ''För full hals'', with Ulf Bergström (Wahlström & Widstrand) * 1971 –

: ''Tårgas & Solrosor'', with Gösta Friberg (FIB:s Lyrikklubb) * 1976 – ''Den vrålande parnassen'', with

Bengt Jangfeldt Bengt may refer to: People In arts, entertainment and media Actors * Bengt Djurberg (1898–1941), Swedish actor and singer * Bengt Ekerot (1920–1971), Swedish actor and director * Bengt Eklund (1925–1998), Swedish actor * Bengt Logardt (1914 ...

(rysk avantgardepoesi) * 1978 – ''O Paris – Apollinaire och hans epok i poesi, bild och dokument'' (FIB:s Lyrikklubb/Tiden) * 1985 – Vladimir Majakovskij: ''Jag!'', with Bengt Jangfeldt * 1988 –

Frank O'Hara Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara (March 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American writer, poet, and art critic. A curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara became prominent in New York City's art world. O'Hara is regarded as a leading figure i ...

: ''Till minne av mina känslor'' * 1989 –

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

: ''Dikter till Lou'', pictures by Olle Kåks * 1995 – ''Är vi långt från Montmartre? Apollinaire och hans epok i poesi, bild och dokument'' * 1997 – ''En katedral av färgat glas: Shelley, Byron, Keats och deras epok'' * 1998 – ''3 x New York'', interpretations of

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

Kenneth Koch Kenneth Koch ( ; 27 February 1925 – 6 July 2002) was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77. He was a prominent poet of the New York School of poetry. This was a loose group of poets includ ...

and

Ron Padgett Ron Padgett (born June 17, 1942, Tulsa, Oklahoma) is an American poet, essayist, fiction writer, translator, and a member of the New York School. ''Great Balls of Fire'', Padgett's first full-length collection of poems, was published in 1969. He ...

* 2000 – ''Och drog likt drömmar bort: Coleridge, Wordsworth och deras epok'' * 2002 – ''Där döda murar står: Lord Byron och hans samtida'' * 2005 – ''Beat!'' (poetry and prose from the beat generation, with Per Planhammar) * 2006 –

Mina Loy Mina Loy (born Mina Gertrude Löwy; 27 December 1882 – 25 September 1966) was a British-born artist, writer, poet, playwright, novelist, painter, designer of lamps, and bohemian. She was one of the last of the first-generation modernists to ...

: ''Baedeker för månresenärer'' * 2007 –

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...

: ''Dikter om kärlek och hat'', with

Tore Janson Tore Janson (born 1936) is a Swedish linguist. Janson was professor of Latin at the University of Gothenburg, and later became professor of African languages at the same alma mater. He retired in 2001, but has since been affiliated with the Unive ...

* 2012 –

John Donne John Donne ( ; 22 January 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under royal patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's ...

: ''Skabrösa elegier och heliga sonetter'' (Ellerströms)

Translations of Harding's work into English

* 1970 – ''The Fabulous Life of Guillaume Apollinaire'', trans. by Sydney Bernard Smith (Iowa City: Windhover, 1970; Dublin: Raven Arts, 1982) art of ''Guillaume Apollinaires fantastiska liv''* 1973 – ''They Killed Sitting Bull and Other Poems'', trans. by Robin Fulton (London: Magazine Editions) selection of 25 early poems repr. with additional translations by Anselm Hollo as ''Tidewater'' (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI: Marick Press, 2009) * 2014 – Gunnar Harding, ''Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding'', ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press) elected poems

Anthologies

* 1979 – ''Modern Swedish Poetry in Translation'', with

Discography

* Jazz och Poesi - Gunnar Harding och Sumpens Swingsters (LP with text volume, 1982)

Prizes and distinctions

*1975 – Tidningen Vi:s litteraturpris * 1987 – Stipendium ur Lena Vendelfelts minnesfond * 1988 – Carl Emil Englund-priset för ''Stjärndykaren'' * 1992 –

Bellmanpriset The Bellman Prize ( sv, Bellmanpriset) is a literature prize for "an outstanding Swedish poet" awarded yearly by the Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien) The prize was first established by Anders Zorn (1860-1920) and his wife Emma Lamm (18 ...

* 1995 – Svenska Dagbladets litteraturpris * 2000 – Wahlström & Widstrands litteraturpris * 2001 – Ferlinpriset * 2001 – Övralidspriset * 2002 – Letterstedtska priset för översättningar för ''Och drog likt drömmar bort: Coleridge, Wordsworth och deras epok'' * 2004 – Sveriges Radios Lyrikpris * 2008 –

Litteris et Artibus Litteris et Artibus is a Swedish royal medal established in 1853 by Charles XV of Sweden, who was then crown prince. It is awarded to people who have made important contributions to culture, especially music, dramatic art and literature. The ob ...

* 2010 – Karlfeldt-priset * 2011 – Doblougska priset * 2013 – Elsa Thulins översättarpris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Gunnar 1940 births Living people 20th-century Swedish poets 20th-century Swedish novelists Swedish essayists Swedish translators Dobloug Prize winners Swedish male poets Swedish male novelists Male essayists International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Swedish male writers 21st-century Swedish novelists Litteris et Artibus recipients