Artur Lundkvist

Nils Artur Lundkvist (3 March 1906 – 11 December 1991) was a Swedish writer, poet and literary critic. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1968.

Artur Lundkvist published around 80 books, including poetry, prose poems, essays, short stories, novels and travel books, and his works have been translated into some 30 languages. He is also noted for having translated many works from Spanish and French into Swedish. Several authors he translated were later awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He married the poet Maria Wine in 1936.

Biography

Artur Lundkvist was born in Perstorp Municipality, Skåne County. As a child he lived on a small farm, first in Hagstad and then in nearby Toarp. From an early age his main interest was reading and also liked wanderings in the surrounding nature. At the age of twenty Lundkvist moved to Stockholm determined to become a writer, he studied at a Folk high school and became acquainted with other young people with the same interests. His first books of poems, the anthology ''Fem unga'' and introductions of foreign modernist literature quickly established Lundkvist as a leading figure in Modernist Swedish literature in the 1930s. Lundkvist went on to publish more than 80 books in many genres and was also a prominent critic. In 1968 he was elected a member of the Swedish Academy, and was a member of the Academy's Nobel committee from 1969 to 1986. He died on 11 December 1991.

Writings

Lundkvist published his first book of poems ''Glöd'' (''Glowing Embers'') in 1928 and contributed to the important anthology ''Fem unga'' (''Five young men'') in 1929. He was one of the dominant figures in Swedish literary modernism, the most vigorous promoter of the modernist breakthrough that took place around 1930, and one of the leading poets of the period. His early works was influenced by Scandinavian and American modernists, most notably Carl Sandburg, and later by surrealism.

In the late 1940s his works became increasingly influenced by Spanish language writers like Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca, whose poetry he also translated to Swedish. Although he continued to publish books of poetry, including ''Liv som gräs'' (''Life as grass'', 1954) and ''Ögonblick och vågor'' (''Moments and waves'', 1962) which by many is considered to be among his finest works, prose works dominated his writings from the 1950s and onwards. In several books, starting with ''Malinga'' (1952) and leading up to late works such as ''Skrivet mot kvällen'' (''Written towards the evening'', 1980), his ambition was to defy genre limitations and merge prose poetry, fictional stories, short essays, personal memoirs and impressions from his many travels around the world into a new form of literature.

Artur Lundkvist was a very productive writer, and also published numerous articles, short stories, collections of literary essays, and books about his travels in South America, India, China, the Soviet Union and Africa. His later work also include several historical novels such as ''Snapphanens liv och död'' (1968, about snapphanar), ''Tvivla, korsfarare!'' (1972, about crusaders), ''Krigarens dikt'' (1976, about Alexander the Great) and "Slavar för Särkland" (1978, about vikings).

In 1966 his autobiography ''Självporträtt av en drömmare med öppna ögon'' (''Self portrait of a dreamer with open eyes'') was published, and in 1968 he was elected a member of the Swedish academy.

In 1977 he was awarded the prestigious Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings festival in Struga, North Macedonia. He died in Solna, Stockholm County.

Political activism

Artur Lundkvist was a supporter of the Soviet Union and communism. Lundkvist himself, however, never accepted to be labelled as a communist but called himself a "free socialist". During the Cold War, Lundkvist was an adherent of the so-called "third stance" ( sv, tredje ståndpunkten) in Swedish public debate, which purported to advocate a neutral stance in the conflict between the two superpowers. He served on the board of the pro-communist Sweden-GDR Association. He was also a member of the Swedish Peace Committee, the Swedish section of the World Peace Council, a Soviet front organization. In 1958 he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet Union.

Selected works

*''Glöd'' 1928
*''Naket liv'' 1929
*''Jordisk prosa'' 1930
*''Svart stad'' 1930
*''Vit man'' 1932
*''Atlantvind'' 1932
*''Floderna flyter mot havet'' 1934
*''Himmelsfärd'' 1935
*''Nattens broar'' 1936
*''Sirensång'' 1937
*''Eldtema'' 1939
*''Ikarus' flykt'' 1939
*''Korsväg'' 1942
*''Dikter mellan djur och gud'' 1944
*''Skinn över sten'' 1947
*''Fotspår i vattnet'' 1949
*''Indiabrand'' 1950
*''Malinga'' 1952
*''Liv som gräs'' 1954
*''Den förvandlade draken'' 1955
*''Vindingevals'' 1956
*''Berget och svalorna'' 1957
*''Vulkanisk kontinent'' 1957
*''Ur en befolkad ensamhet'' 1958
*''Komedi i Hägerskog'' 1959
*''Utsikter över utländsk prosa'' 1959
*''Det talande trädet'' 1960
*''Agadir'' 1961
*''Berättelser för vilsekomna'' 1961
*''Sida vid sida'' 1962
*''Ögonblick och vågor'' 1962
*''Drömmar i ovädrens tid'' 1963
*''Texter i snön'' 1964
*''Sällskap för natten'' 1965
*''Självporträtt av en drömmare med öppna ögon'' 1966
*''Snapphanens liv och död'' 1968
*''Utflykter med utländska författare'' 1969
*''Himlens vilja'' 1970
*''Antipodien'' 1971
*''Tvivla, korsfarare!'' 1972
*''Lustgårdens demoni'' 1973
*''Fantasins slott och vardagens stenar'' 1974
*''Livsälskare, svartmålare'' 1975
*''Världens härlighet'' 1975
*''Krigarens dikt'' 1976
*''Sett i det strömmande vattnet'' 1978
*''Slavar för Särkland'' 1978
*''Utvandring till paradiset'' 1979
*''Skrivet mot kvällen'' 1980
*''Babylon, gudarnas sköka'' 1981
*''Sinnebilder'' 1982
*''Färdas i drömmen och föreställningen'' 1984

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lundkvist, Artur
1906 births
1991 deaths
People from Perstorp Municipality
Writers from Scania
Swedish-language poets
Modernist poets
Members of the Swedish Academy
Lenin Peace Prize recipients
Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates
Dobloug Prize winners
20th-century poets