Helena Eriksson (born 1962) is a Swedish poet. Her sixth collection of poetry, ''Strata'' (2004), was published in English in 2014.

Biography

Born in Nyköping, Eriksson was raised in the countryside. After graduating in philosophy and art at

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

, she worked as an editor for the cultural journal ''Ord & Bild''. She has also worked as a translator. In 1990, she completed her first lyrical collection, ''Byggnad åt mig'' (A building for me). Her dramatic expressionist poems, written in prose, evoke animal and human worlds which are also depicted in later works. ''Spott ur en änglamun'' (Spit from an angel's mouth, 1993) depicts a strange fairytale world seen through the eyes of little girls in red dresses who meet Bambi and Fox. She frequently introduces allusions to violence, desire and rupture, sometimes emphasized by the sensuous tactile effects of necklaces and clothing, as in ''Strata''. As a literary translator, she has rendered into Swedish classic texts by women writers, including

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell ( ; ; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

's ''

House of Incest ''House of Incest'' is a prose poem written by Anaïs Nin. Originally published in 1936, it is Anaïs Nin's first work of fiction. Unlike her diaries and erotica, ''House of Incest'' does not detail the author's relationships with famous lovers l ...

'',

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include '' Empire of Dreams'' (1988), '' Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998), '' United States of Banana'' (2011), and '' Putinoika'' (2024). ...

's Empire of Dreams (poetry collection),

Eileen Myles Eileen Myles (born December 9, 1949) is an American poet and writer who has produced more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. Novelist Dennis Cooper has des ...

' Chelsea Girls, and

United States of Banana ''United States of Banana'' (2011) is a postmodern allegorical novel by the Puerto Rican author Giannina Braschi. It is a cross-genre work that blends experimental theatre, prose poetry, short story, and political philosophy with a manifesto on ...

, and

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

' ''Le Navire Night''.

Works

* ''En byggnad åt mig'' – 1990. * ''Spott ur en änglamun'' – 1993 * ''Mark'' – 1996 * ''Tholos'' – 1998 * ''Skäran'' – 2001 * ''Strata'' – 2004 (in English 2014) * ''De, bara'' – 2008 * ''Logiska undersökningar'' – 2009 * ''Mellan eller En annan närhet'' – 2011 * ''Täthetsteoremet'' – 2012 * ''Kore på Starbucks'' – 2021

Awards

Eriksson has won several awards including the Swedish Radio Poetry Prize (Sveriges Radios Lyrikpris) in 2008 and the Swedish Academy's

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize (, ) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. The prize sum is 4 * 150,000 Swedish crow ...

in 2009. She won the 2019

Swedish Academy The Swedish Academy (), founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden. Its 18 members, who are elected for life, comprise the highest Swedish language authority. Outside Scandinavia, it is best known as the body t ...

's prize for her literary translation of

's works.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksson, Helena 1962 births Living people Swedish women poets People from Nyköping 20th-century Swedish women writers 21st-century Swedish women writers 20th-century Swedish translators 20th-century Swedish poets