Tua Birgitta Forsström (born 2 April 1947) is a

Finland-Swedish Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly a ...

writer who writes in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

. She was awarded the

Nordic Council Literature Prize The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth ...

in 1998 for the

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

collection '' Efter att ha tillbringat en natt bland hästar''. Forsström's work is known for its engagement with the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

landscape, travel and conflicts within relationships. She often uses

quotation A quotation is the repetition of a sentence, phrase, or passage from speech or text that someone has said or written. In oral speech, it is the representation of an utterance (i.e. of something that a speaker actually said) that is introduced by ...

s in her work, sometimes placing them directly into her poems and at other times using them as introductions or interludes in her sequences. She has used quotations from

Egon Friedell Egon Friedell (born ''Egon Friedmann''; 21 January 1878, in Vienna – 16 March 1938, in Vienna) was a prominent Austrian cultural historian, playwright, actor and Kabarett performer, journalist and theatre critic. Friedell has been described a ...

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

and Friedrich Nietszche. In the collection ''After Spending a Night Among Horses'' () (1997) Forsström uses quotations from the Andrei Tarkovsky film '' Stalker'', they are placed as interludes in a sequence of pieces and sit alone on the page, without direct reference to their source on the page, leaving this to a Notes & Quotations section at the end of the book. She published her first book in 1972, ''A Poem about Love and Other Things'' (). Her breakthrough into the English-speaking world came in 1987 with her sixth collection, ''Snow Leopard'' (), which was translated into the English by

David McDuff David McDuff (born 1945, Sale, Cheshire, England) is a Scottish translator, editor and literary critic. Life McDuff attended the University of Edinburgh, where he studied Russian and German, gaining a PhD in 1971. He married mathematician Dus ...

and published by Bloodaxe Books. In 1990, the book won a

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) was founded in 1953 by T. S. Eliot and friends, including Sir Basil Blackwell, "to propagate the art of poetry". Eric Walter White was secretary from December 1953 until 1971, and was subsequently the society's chai ...

Translation Award in the United Kingdom. In 2006, ''I Studied Once at a Wonderful Faculty'' was published by Bloodaxe Books, with translations from

and

Stina Katchadourian Stina is a feminine given name, common in the Nordic countries, and may refer to: *Stina Aronson (1892–1956), Swedish writer * Stina Berg (1869–1930), Swedish actress *Stina Bergman (1888–1976), Swedish writer, translator, and screenwriter *S ...

. The collection contains ''Snow Leopard'' () (1987), ''The Parks'' () (1992), ''After Spending a Night Among Horses'' () (1997) and a new poem sequence called ''Minerals''. On 7 February 2019, Forsström was elected a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy ( sv, Svenska Akademien), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III of Sweden, Gustav III, is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish lang ...

, succeeding

Katarina Frostenson Alma Katarina Frostenson Arnault (born 5 March 1953) is a Swedish poet and writer. She was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1992 to 2019. In 2003, Frostenson was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in France in recognition of her serv ...

in seat 18. She was inducted in December 2019.

Bibliography

* ''A Poem About Love and Other Things'' () (1972) * ''Where the Notes End'' () (1974) * ''Actually We are Very Happy () (1976) * ''Yellow bird's-nest'' () (1979) * ''September'' (1983) * ''Snow Leopard'' () (1987) * ''The Mariana Trench'' () (1990) * ''The Parks'' () (1992) * '' After Having Spent a Night Among Horses'' () (1997) * ''I Studied Once at a Wonderful Faculty'' () (2003)

Awards

Nordic Council's Literature Prize The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth ...

1998

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsstrom, Tua 1947 births Living people People from Porvoo Finnish poets in Swedish Nordic Council Literature Prize winners Finnish women poets 20th-century Finnish poets 20th-century Finnish women writers 21st-century Finnish women writers 21st-century Finnish poets International Writing Program alumni Swedish-speaking Finns Members of the Swedish Academy