Swedish poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Tomas Tranströmer has passed away at the age of 83, his publishers confirmed on Friday.
Swedish publishing house Albert Bonniers Förlag confirmed his death on Friday afternoon in a press release.
“We have today, by the Tranströmer family, been given the sad task of announcing that Tomas Tranströmer passed away on Thursday, March 26th, 2015, after a short illness,” the company said and added that the family asks for privacy.
Tranströmer, who was also a trained psychologist, is one of Sweden’s most read and beloved poets. His most recent publication was ‘Poems and Prose 1954-2004’ (‘Dikter och prosa 1954-2004’), which came out in 2011. That same year he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
“Most of Tranströmer’s poetry collections are characterized by economy, concreteness and poignant metaphors. In his latest collections…Tranströmer has shifted towards an even smaller format and a higher degree of concentration,” said the Nobel jury when it honoured him.
An earlier stroke, in 1990, had left him partly paralyzed and made it hard for him to speak. He had been a perennial favorite with bookmakers for years before he won the Nobel, for which he had been nominated every year since 1993.
Transtromer is survived by his wife Monika and their daughters, Emma and Paula. Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately announced.
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