Peter Pohl

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Peter Pohl (2007)

Peter Pohl (born December 5, 1940 in Hamburg ) is a Swedish author of children's books and mathematics professor.

life and work

After the death of his German father, the Swedish mother moved from Hamburg with Peter Pohl to Sweden in 1944. As a student, Peter Pohl was particularly enthusiastic about the subjects of mathematics, physics and sports. After high school and military service, he studied mathematics and physics. In 1963 he started as a research assistant at the Defense Research Institute. He moved to the Royal Technical University of Stockholm and received his doctorate in numerical analysis in 1975 . He then taught at NADA, a joint institution of the KTH (Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan - Royal Technical University) and Stockholm University . Pohl wrote textbooks on numerical analysis.

He had already written texts for himself in his childhood, but was not satisfied with them. In 1983 he joined the writers' workshop of the Wortfront literary association. He edited a short story he had written as a teenager and published it in 1985 under the title Jan, mein Freund . The novel was initially unsuccessful. In 1986, however, he received the Debutante Prize for Literature Promotion and the Nils Holgersson Plaque . His second novel The Rainbow Has Only Eight Colors , published in 1986, received little attention, but in 1987 there was a controversial debate as to whether his third novel Let's Call Him Anna , which tells how the boy Anders is bullied to death, is suitable for young people . In 2012 he was a member of the jury for the award The Extraordinary Book of the children and youth program of the Berlin International Literature Festival . His books have been translated into 14 languages ​​(Bokmal, Danish, German, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Icelandic, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Nynorsk, Polish, Slovenian). Peter Pohl is married and has a daughter. He lives in the Swedish municipality of Tyresö .

Literary meaning

Content and style

Peter Pohl is considered the most important Swedish children's book author still alive. In general, Pohl devotes many of his books to the topic of childhood, mostly from the perspective of the children and young people concerned. He goes into detail on the problem horizon of his protagonists, which gives some novels such as the two rainbow books or in Let's call him Anna a rather gloomy overall picture. Frank Griesheimer writes in Die Welt that Peter Pohl tells in his books "of the power of friendship that can save injured children's souls. And because he adopts the children's emotional perspective in a wonderfully empathetic manner and also - more than usual in realistic children's books - literary leeway his books have received many awards. " Suzanne Forsström writes in Nordis that Peter Pohl “gives words to his pain, does mourning with his writing”. He therefore worked on texts for months, “juggling the words, adding, leaving out, feeling whether it now exactly meets what he wants to express. Heart, head and stomach must agree with the choice of words ”. For Brigitte Jakobeit von der Zeit , Peter Pohl is "a difficult author. That may be due to his subjects: injury and mutilation of the child's psyche, the shattering of even the smallest hope. He dissects these processes down to the last nerve, puts them in literature and produces but no aesthetics of suffering. Superficially, his books are the collection of clues, the search for a way out and identity. In the background, they provide a mirror image of adult power and child-like powerlessness. The adults, the clever, the blind , it is said. In such cases one likes to speak of difficult . " Elenas Geus of the FAZ also characterizes Pohl's novels as unusually difficult to consume: "Peter Pohl is not interested in literary bland food. He has shocked people several times in his novels and shown the threatening, dark and unjust sides of life." For Anne Overlack, also from the FAZ, Peter Pohl has never described "ideal worlds (...). His multiple award-winning novels are often devoted to the dark side of human existence. The young heroes are rarely well off. Pohl describes exclusion up close and humiliation, fear, loneliness, grief and loss, physical and mental cruelty. And not only the peers are merciless, fate is also merciless. "

Individual works

Jan, my friend

Peter Pohl made his debut as an author with the children's book Jan, mein Freund . For Die Zeit , Jan, my friend, is »unusual in form and content. Unusually honest, touching, sad. Unusually true. And the truth does not adorn itself, it does not inflate itself, it does not ask strictly for attention, is simply there, takes possession of the reader, makes him a breathless confidante, excludes him at will from the better knowledge of adults. "For this book he was with the Nils Holgerson Medal in Sweden and the German Youth Literature Prize 1990.

My friend Mia

Peter Pohl's book, My Girlfriend Mia , which was last translated into German and published in 2012 , describes the problem of alcoholic parents from the eyes of the 11-year-old girl Lena. For Frank Griesheimer in the WELT , Pohl succeeds in the book, »Describing Lena's excessive demands and over-adapting to her difficult situation with such touching accuracy as has rarely been read before. Involuntarily one wonders whether there will still be such quiet, precise and sensitive, touching texts when children's books are perhaps only read as animated e-books on tablets. The most famous media-critical phrase The medium is the message could mean that a colorful, happy medium is only suitable for colorful, happy content. For literature that would also like to help children cope with the darker sides of reality, this might be the end. "For Georg Patzer from the title magazine, Pohl tells about society in my girlfriend Mia " almost casually and incidentally and with great art that is no longer good for the well-being of the children, and of a friendship that only becomes a true friendship through its first rehearsal. "Udo Bartsch states in Neues Deutschland :" Peter Pohl does not lie to his young readers. That's why they have to Learn the lesson pretty quickly: Books can end sadly and problems are not always solved, especially not those that are far beyond the ability of children to cope with. It is mostly adults who cause these problems, through irresponsibility or lovelessness or simply by looking the other way. Pohl's stories are no fun. The fact that you read them anyway is due to the truthfulness. The Swede does not write typically good t meant concern books, but understands it in a touching way to accept the children's perspective and to pack it in simple, clear and yet appropriate language. And this time he even gives his characters a lot of hope on the way. "

bibliography

First edition title Publisher (place) of the first edition ISBN of the current edition First edition of the translation Title of the translation German publisher (place) of the first edition of the translation ISBN of the current edition of the translation translator comment
1985 Janne, min vän Alfabeta ( Stockholm ) ISBN 978-9177127475 1985 Jan, my friend Maier ( Ravensburg ) ISBN 978-3423624824 Birgitta Kicherer
1986 Regnbågen har bara åtta färger AWE / Gebers ( Stockholm ) ISBN 978-9120073965 1993 The rainbow has only eight colors Hanser ( Munich ) ISBN 978-3446173583 Birgitta Kicherer
1992 Hunt saknar dig, hag saknar dig! Rabén & Sjogren ( Stockholm ) ISBN 978-9129621044 1994 I miss you, I miss you! Hanser ( Munich ) ISBN 978-3446173460 Birgitta Kicherer written together with Kinna Gieth
  • translated into German (list still incomplete)
    • 1991: Let's call him Anna , text: Peter Pohl, translation from Swedish: Birgitta Kicherer, publisher: Maier Verlag Ravensburg, ISBN 978-3473351169 , original: Vi kallar honom Anna (1987)
    • 1995: While the rainbow is fading , Text: Peter Pohl, Original: Medan regnbågen bleknar (1989)
    • 1996: I am Malin , text: Peter Pohl, translation from Swedish: Birgitta Kicherer, original: Malins kung Gurra (1991)
    • 1998: But I won't forget you , Text: Peter Pohl, Original: Men jag glömmer dig inte (1997)
    • 2002: Under the blue sun , text: Peter Pohl, original: Intet bortom det yttersta (1998)
    • 2003: I will always be with you , text: Peter Pohl, translation from Swedish: Birgitta Kicherer, publisher: Arena, original: Jag är kvar hos er (2000)
    • 2009: Anton, I like you , text: Peter Pohl, translation from Swedish: Birgitta Kicherer, publisher: Carl Hanser, original: Anton, jag gillar dig! (2008)
    • 2012: My friend Mia , text: Peter Pohl, translation from Swedish: Birgitta Kicherer, publisher: Carl Hanser, original: En vän som heter Mia (2011)
  • so far untranslated
    • 1988: Havet inom oss
    • 1988: Alltid den där Anette!
    • 1989: De Stora Penslarnas Lek
    • 1999: Kan ingen hjälpa Anette?
    • 1991: Man har ett snärj
    • 1992: Glittras uppdrag
    • 1993: En rödsten till Carina
    • 1994: Vill dig
    • 1994: Vilja växa
    • 1995: När alla ljuger
    • 1996: Minns det
    • 1998: Klara papper är ett måste
    • 1998: Tillsammans kan vi förändra världen
    • 1999: Man can inte säga allt
    • 2002: Tusen kulor
    • 2005: sects
    • 2007: Nu heter jag Nirak

Awards

Theatrical performances

  • 2012: Glittra, the angel in the cultural center at the Menoriten in Graz

Festival participation

Literature about Peter Pohl

  • 2013: Words for pain - Peter Pohl's sad story for children , text: Suzanne Forsström, in: Nordis, issue 1-2013, pp. 70–71.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Frank Griesheimer: Lena's mom remains a secret: "My friend Mia". In: welt.de . April 11, 2012, accessed December 16, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Brigitte Jakobeit: Back heals, soul hardens. In: zeit.de. March 3, 1995, accessed December 16, 2014 .
  3. ↑ The farewell. In: FAZ.net . July 3, 2004, accessed December 16, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Guardian of the girls' children. In: FAZ.net . March 1, 2003, accessed December 16, 2014 .
  5. ↑ The novel by a great narrator: The boy with the wheel. In: zeit.de. April 7, 1989, accessed April 11, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Peter Pohl on the homepage of the dtv
  7. ↑ On children's longing for a normal life . Published in cover culture magazine on March 12, 2012, accessed on July 31, 2018
  8. ↑ www.neues-deutschland.de
personal data
SURNAME Pohl, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish author
DATE OF BIRTH 5th December 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg