World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Karl Vennberg

カール・ヴェンベリ

Karl Vennberg

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1910-04-11 （Blädinge parish, Alvesta Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden）
Died
1995-05-12 （Spånga, Stockholm, Sweden） age 85
Nationality
Sweden
Languages
Swedish, Norwegian, English
Residence History
Blädinge (birthplace) → Stockholm (long-term residence)

Career

Occupations
poet, writer, translator, literary critic, teacher
Active Years
1937-1990
Affiliations
Samfundet De Nio, Aftonbladet (cultural editor)
Memberships
Member of Samfundet De Nio
Influenced By
T. S. Eliot, Modernist movement
Influenced
Subsequent generations of Swedish poets

Education

Lund University
Period: 1930年代
Country: Sweden
Studies in Stockholm
Period: 1930年代
Country: Sweden
Included training to teach Norwegian

Awards

Samfundet De Nio prize
1956
Organization: Samfundet De Nio
Result: 受賞
Bellman Prize
1960
Organization: Bellman Prize
Result: 受賞
Litteraturfrämjandet grand prize
1963
Organization: Litteraturfrämjandet
Result: 受賞
Nordic Council Literature Prize
1972
Organization: Nordic Council Literature Prize
Result: 受賞
Carl Emil Englund Prize
1979
Organization: Carl Emil Englund Prize
Result: 受賞
Kellgren Prize
1979
Organization: Kellgren Prize
Result: 受賞
Aniara Prize
1988
Organization: Aniara Prize
Result: 受賞
Pilot Prize
1993
Organization: Pilot Prize
Result: 受賞
Gerard Bonnier Prize
1994
Organization: Gerard Bonnier Prize
Result: 受賞
Honorary Doctorate, Stockholm University
1980
Category: 名誉学位
Organization: Stockholm University
Result: 受与

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Hymn and Hunger (Hymn och hunger)

1937 Poetry collection

Vennberg's first collection of poems, containing analytical and often ironic pieces that mark his early voice.

existenceironycritical perspective

Straw Torch (Halmfackla)

1944 Poetry collection

Published in 1944, this collection is considered Vennberg's breakthrough in the Swedish literary scene.

wartime sensibilityexistence and the quotidianprecision of language

Bibliography

  • Hymn and Hunger (1937)
  • Straw Torch (1944)
  • Approximately 20 collections of poetry (various years)

Translations by Author

  • Swedish translation of Franz Kafka's The Trial
  • Translations of poems by T. S. Eliot
  • Swedish translation of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice
  • Participation in Bible translation projects (1970s)

Translations of Works

  • Selected poems and collections translated into English and other languages (limited)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Modernist styleanalytical and reserved voiceuse of irony
Recurring Motifs
ironyreflections on existencecritique of everyday life and civilization

Legacy

Karl Vennberg was a leading 20th-century Swedish modernist poet, translator and critic whose poetry, translations and criticism had a significant impact on Swedish literature.

Academic Societies

  • Samfundet De Nio

Archives

  • Albert Bonniers publishing house (author page/archive)

Quotes

  • Nazism is, and has always been, the most repulsive thing I have seen in my life.
    Source: Diary (1935) / quoted by a close friend (1935)
  • Poetry can be a negative way of understanding reality.
    Source: Literary criticism / essays

Trivia

  • Worked as a Norwegian teacher at a folk high school in Stockholm.
  • Longtime cultural editor at Aftonbladet, influencing the Swedish literary scene.
  • Known for translations of Franz Kafka, T. S. Eliot and Thomas Mann.
  • Member of Samfundet De Nio and awarded an honorary doctorate by Stockholm University.