Erik Lindegren

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Erik Lindegren (1954)

Johan Erik Lindegren (born August 5, 1910 in Luleå , † May 31, 1968 in Stockholm ) was a Swedish poet, literary critic and translator; he was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1962 to 1968 , where he held seat No. 17.

life and work

Erik Lindegren was the son of a railroad engineer and a grandson of the composer Johan Lindgren. As a schoolboy he wrote his first poems and dealt intensively with modern foreign poetry. In 1937 he met the writer Karl Vennberg ; together they translated Eliot's murder in the cathedral . They both led the "Gruppe 1940", in which Swedish poets of their generation had come together. During this time, his collection of poems Der Mann ohne Weg was created , which was initially published as a private print in 1942 because Lindegren could not find a publisher. Some of the 40 sonnets it contains alludes to the German occupation of Norway. The volume showed the skepticism and desperate search of a new generation of poets and prompted discussions about the form and content of poetry.

In 1942 Lindegren became the culture editor at Aftontidnung . He wrote literary reviews for numerous periodicals , including Bonnier's literary magazine and the newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Stockholms-Tidningen . From 1948 to 1950 he was editor of the avant-garde literary magazine Prisma . Lindegren translated, among others, Saint-John Perse , Nelly Sachs , Dylan Thomas , Rainer Maria Rilke and Paul Claudel . He wrote opera reviews and wrote some libretti , for example for two operas by the composer Karl-Birger Blomdahl : Aniara (first performance 1959) by Harry Martinson and Hjalmar Bergmans Herr von Hancken (first performance 1965 at the Royal Stockholm Opera ). He died on May 31, 1968 in Stockholm.

Together with Gunnar Ekelöf , Lindegren is one of the leading representatives of the 1940s and 1950s. His "poems are particularly compressed with overwhelmingly strong images and symbols", his later poems are "more free in form, carried by great musicality."

The northern Swedish city of Luleå awards the Erik Lindegren Prize, endowed with 50,000 crowns, every two years.

Quote

" Någonstans inom oss är vi alltid här och nu / är vi alltid du intill förväxling och förblandning / är vi suddenly undrans under och förvandling / brytande havsvåg, roseneld och snö .

Somewhere in us we are always here and now / we are always you to the point of confusion and exchange / we are suddenly miraculous and metamorphosed / surging waves, rose fire and snow. "

- Erik Lindegren

Awards

Publications

Swedish original editions (selection)

  • 1942: Mannen utan väg ( The man without a path )
  • 1946: Tal i egen sak ( plea on my own behalf )
  • 1947: Sviter ( suites )
  • 1954: Vinteroffer ( winter sacrifice )
  • 1962: Dag Hammarskjöld

Translations from German

  • Nelly Sachs: Än hyllar döden livet. Dictator . Bonnier, Stockholm 1966
  • Nelly Sachs: Dicters . Translation together with Olof Lagercrantz and Gunnar Ekelöf. Bonnier, Stockholm 1967
  • Rainer Maria Rilke: Duinese Elegies / Duinoelegierna . German and Swedish. Bonnier, Stockholm 1998, ISBN 91-0-056810-4

German editions

  • Because our only nest is our wings . Selection and translation: Nelly Sachs. Luchterhand, Neuwied 1963

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ulf Wittrock: Erik Lindegren . In: Nordic literary history
  2. ↑ Peter Hamm: I confess to the art of the impossible. The Swedish poets Gunnar Ekelöf and Erik Lindegren
  3. ↑ Lindegren, Johan Erik . In: Gero of Wilpert (ed.) Encyclopedia of World Literature L-Z . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-423-59050-5
  4. ↑ Erik Lindegren-priset in the Swedish language Wikipedia
  5. ↑ From the poem Arioso (in: Sviter , 1947), translated by Ulf Wittrock
personal data
SURNAME Lindegren, Erik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lindegren, Johan Erik
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish poet, translator, critic and essayist
DATE OF BIRTH August 5, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Luleå
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 1968
Place of death Stockholm