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Pia Tafdrup

ピア・タフドゥルプ

Pia Tafdrup

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1952-05-29 （Copenhagen, Denmark）
Nationality
Denmark
Languages
Danish
Residence History
Copenhagen, Denmark

Career

Occupations
Poet, Novelist, Playwright, Radio writer
Active Years
1981-
Affiliations
Danish Academy (member)
Memberships
Danish Academy

Awards

Nordic Council Literature Prize
1999
Work: Not specified (awarded for poetic achievement)
Organization: Nordic Council
Result: 受賞
Elected member of the Danish Academy
1989
Organization: Danish Academy
Result: 選出
Order of the Dannebrog (Knight)
2001
Organization: Order of the Dannebrog
Result: 叙勲
Søren Gyldendal Prize
2005
Organization: Gyldendal
Result: 受賞
Swedish Academy Nordic Prize
2006
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞
Ján Smrek Prize
2009
Organization: Literary organization in Bratislava
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

When an Angel Breaks her Silence

1981 Poetry

Debut poetry collection featuring symbolic imagery and introspective themes.

introspectionsymbolismexistence
Translations
  • Translated into English (details not specified)

Spring Tide

1985 Poetry

A collection that uses tides and seasonal imagery to explore change and time. English translation published in 1989.

naturetimechange
Translations
  • English (1989); translated into multiple other languages

Queen's Gate

1998 Poetry

A mid-career collection that intersects impressions of place and personal memory. English translation published in 2001.

memoryplacethe city
Translations
  • English (2001), Romanian, etc.

Tarkovsky's Horses

2006 Poetry

Poems that link cinematic imagery and fragments of memory; English translations published in 2010.

cinematic imagerymemoryimages
Translations
  • English (2010)

Salamander Sun

2012 Poetry

A recent collection exploring the mysteries of existence through animal motifs and natural observation.

animalsnatureexistence
Translations
  • English (Salamander Sun & Other Poems, 2015), etc.

The Taste of Steel

2014 Poetry

A collection depicting body and memory through cold, metallic imagery.

the bodymemorymateriality

The Taste of Snow

2016 Poetry

Explores sensation and loss through images of cold nature.

losssensationnature

Bibliography

  • When an Angel Breaks her Silence (1981)
  • No Hold (1982)
  • The Innermost Zone (1983)
  • Spring Tide (1985)
  • White Fever (1986)
  • The Bridge of Moments (1988)
  • The Crystal Forest (1992)
  • Territorial Song. A Jerusalem Cycle (1994)
  • Queen's Gate (1998)
  • Thousand Born (1999)
  • The Salamander Quartet: The Whales in Paris (2002)
  • Tarkovsky's Horses (2006)
  • Boomerang (2008)
  • Birds of Compass. Poems (2010)
  • Salamander Sun (2012)
  • The Taste of Steel (2014)
  • The Taste of Snow (2016)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical and symbolic imagerycinematic and visual descriptionmusical, rhythmic use of language
Recurring Motifs
sea and tidesanimals (salamanders, whales)light and shadowthe body and sensationmemory and place

Legacy

Pia Tafdrup is one of Denmark's leading contemporary poets, widely translated and internationally recognized. Her symbolic, visual imagery and deep reflections on existence and the body have had broad influence.

Academic Societies

  • Danish Academy

Trivia

  • Her work has been translated into more than 25 languages.
  • Elected member of the Danish Academy in 1989.
  • Winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 1999.
  • Appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog in 2001.
  • Recipient of the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize in 2006 (the so-called 'little Nobel').