Karl Werner Aspenström (13 November 1918 – 25 January 1997) was a Swedish poet. Born at Norrbärke, he was a member of the

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

, 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 Harry Martinson (6May 190411February 1978) was a Swedish writer, poet and former sailor. In 1949 he was elected into the Swedish Academy. He was awarded a joint 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 together with fellow ...

and

Tomas Tranströmer Tomas Gösta Tranströmer (; 15 April 1931 – 26 March 2015) was a Swedish poet, psychologist and translator. His poems captured the long winters in Sweden, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature. 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 h ...

. 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 County 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 {{Sweden-writer-stub