Karl Werner Aspenström (13 November 1918 – 25 January 1997) was a Swedish poet.
Born at
Norrbärke
Dalarna () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also ...
, he was 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 ...
, where he held Seat 12 from 1981 to 1997. Following his breakthrough in 1949 with ''Snölegend'' (''"Snow legend"'') he was considered one of the leading 20th-century Swedish poets, and his poetry has often been compared to the works of the Nobel Prize laureates
Harry Martinson and
Tomas Tranströmer.
Aspenström claimed that his motivation for writing was "writing for his cat".
He was a friend of
Stig Dagerman
Stig Halvard Dagerman (5 October 1923 – 4 November 1954) was a Swedish author and journalist prominent in the aftermath of World War II.
Biography
Stig Dagerman was born Stig Halvard Andersson in Älvkarleby, Uppsala County. He later took his ...
. His widow died in 2015.
Selected works
* ''Förberedelse'' (1943)
* ''Oändligt är vårt äventyr'' (prose, 1945)
* ''Skriket och tystnaden'' (1946)
* ''Snölegend'' (1949)
* ''Litania'' (1952)
* ''Förebud'' (1953)
* ''Hundarna'' (1954)
* ''Dikter under träden'' (1956)
* ''Bäcken'' (prose, 1958)
* ''Motsägelser'' (essays, 1961)
* ''Om dagen om natten'' (1961)
* ''Trappan'' (1964)
* ''Sommar'' (prose, 1968)
* ''Inre'' (1969)
* ''Under tiden'' (1972)
* ''Tidigt en morgon, sent på jorden'' (1980)
* ''Sorl'' (1983)
* ''Det röda molnet'' (1986)
* ''Varelser'' (1988)
* ''Enskilt och allmänt'' (1991)
* ''Ty'' (1993)
* ''Israpport'' (1997)
* ''Öva Sitt Eget'' (2004) ''(posthumous, co-written with Signe Lund-Aspenström)''
* ''Samlade dikter 1943-1997'' (Collected poems 1943-1997, 2014)
References
1918 births
1997 deaths
People from Smedjebacken Municipality
Writers from Dalarna
Swedish-language poets
Swedish male poets
Burials at Maria Magdalena Church
20th-century Swedish poets
20th-century Swedish male writers
Members of the Swedish Academy
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