Swedish modernist poetry developed in the 1910s with authors such as Pär Lagerkvist and was established the 1930s and 1940s. Distinguishing features where experimentation within a variety of styles, usually free prose without rhymes or metric syllables. Leading modernistic poets were

Artur Lundkvist Nils Artur Lundkvist (3 March 1906 – 11 December 1991) was a Swedish writer, poet and literary critic. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1968. Artur Lundkvist published around 80 books, including poetry, prose poems, essays, short ...

(1906–1991),

Gunnar Ekelöf Bengt Gunnar Ekelöf (15 September 1907, in Stockholm – 16 March 1968, in Sigtuna) was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958 and was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958. ...

(1907–1968), Edith Södergran (1892–1923), Karin Boye (1900–1941), Harry Martinson (1904–1978) and

Erik Lindegren Erik Lindegren (August 5, 1910 – May 31, 1968) was a Swedish author, poet, critical writer and member of the Swedish Academy (1962–68, chair 17). Grandson of composer Johan Lindegren. Lindegren was born in Luleå, Norrbotten County, the s ...

(1910–1968). Gunnar Ekelöf has become described as Sweden's first surrealistic poet, after he debuted with the poetry collection ''sent på jorden'' in 1932, a work was too unconventional to become appreciated.''Lundkvist, Martinsson, Ekelöf'', by Espmark & Olsson, in Delblanc, Lönnroth, Göransson, vol 3 But Ekelöf moved towards romanticism and got betters reviews for his second poetry collection ''Dedikation'' in 1934. A work that became influential for later Swedish poets was his ''Färjesång'' in 1941, a finely expressed blend of romanticism, surrealism and the dark clouds of the ongoing World War II. Edith Södergran did not achieve fame during her lifetime, but is today regarded as one of the foremost modernistic poets from the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

, and she has been translated into all major languages. Her first poetry collection was ''Dikter'' in 1916, but it was her second collection, ''Septemberlyran'' (1918) that caught the attention of a larger audience. It is distinguished by a kind of beauty that had not been seen for a long time. Södergran suffered from tuberculosis, which took her life as early as 1923. Harry Martinson had an unparalleled feeling of nature, in the spirit of Linnaeus. As typical for his generation, he wrote with a free prosody, not bound by rhymes and syllables. A classic work was the autobiographical ''Flowering Nettles'', in 1935. His most remarkable work was however '' Aniara'', 1956, a story of a spaceship drifting through space.

played a vital role in promoting modernist poetry in Sweden. His poetry was influenced by

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

, Walt Whitman and spanish language poets like Lorca and

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

. Karin Boye was one of the most important modernist poets in the 1920s and 1930s with collections like ''Moln'' (1922), ''Gömda land'' (1925), ''Härdarna'' (1927) and ''För trädets skull'' (1935). Hjalmar Gullberg (1898–1961) wrote many mystical and Christianity influenced collections, such as ''Andliga övningar'' (Spiritual Exercises, 1932), but continued to develop and published his greatest work, ''Ögon, läppar'' (Eyes, Lips), in 1959. In the 1940s

become one of the leading modernist poets with the surreal "blown-up

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

s" of ''mannen utan väg'' (The man without a way, 1942) and the more romantic ''Sviter'' (Suites, 1947), a collection that is considered to be the highpoint of 1940s Swedish poetry. The arguably most famous Swedish poet of the 20th century is otherwise Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015). His poetry is distinguished by a Christian mysticism, moving on the verge between dream and reality, the physical and the

metaphysic Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

al.

Notes and references

* Algulin, Ingemar, ''A History of Swedish Literature'', published by the

Swedish Institute The Swedish Institute ( sv, Svenska institutet, ) is a government agency in Sweden with the responsibility to spread information about Sweden outside the country. It exists to promote Swedish interests, and to organise exchanges with other co ...

, 1989. * Gustafson, Alrik, ''A History of Swedish Literature'' (2 volumes), 1961. * Lönnroth, L., Delblanc S., Göransson, S. ''Den svenska litteraturen'' (ed.), 3 volumes (1999) *

,
Modern Literature
', accessed October 17, 2006 * Tigerstedt, E.N., ''Svensk litteraturhistoria'' (Tryckindustri AB, Solna, 1971) {{Swedish language Swedish literature 20th-century Swedish literature