Gunnar Ekelöf’s Followers (39)

Gunnar Ekelöf

Born

in Stockholm, Sweden

September 15, 1907

Died

March 16, 1968

Genre

Literature & Fiction

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Gunnar Ekelöf was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958. He won a number of prizes for his poetry.

Life and Works

Gunnar Ekelöf has been described as Sweden's first surrealist poet; he made his debut with the collection sent på jorden ("late on earth") in 1932, a work (written during an extended stay in Paris in 1929-30) that was too unconventional to become widely appreciated and which the author described as capturing a period of suicidal thoughts and apocalyptic moods.[1] It was, in a sense, an act of literary revolt akin to Edith Södergran's Septemberlyran a dozen years earlier. While not disavowing his debut, Ekelö Gunnar Ekelöf was a Swedish poet and writer. He was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1958. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy by Uppsala University in 1958. He won a number of prizes for his poetry.

Life and Works

Gunnar Ekelöf has been described as Sweden's first surrealist poet; he made his debut with the collection sent på jorden ("late on earth") in 1932, a work (written during an extended stay in Paris in 1929-30) that was too unconventional to become widely appreciated and which the author described as capturing a period of suicidal thoughts and apocalyptic moods.[1] It was, in a sense, an act of literary revolt akin to Edith Södergran's Septemberlyran a dozen years earlier. While not disavowing his debut, Ekelöf moved towards romanticism and received better reviews for his second poetry collection Dedikation (1934). Both of his first two volumes are strongly influenced by surrealism and show a violent, at times feverish torrent of images, deliberate breakdown of ordered syntax and traditional poetic language and a defiant spirit bordering on anarchism ("cut your belly cut your belly and don't think of any tomorrow" runs the black humorous refrain of a poem called "fanfare" in sent på jorden, which collection does away with the use of upper case letters). This defiant outsiderhood was grounded in his person; though he came from an upper-class background, Ekelöf had never felt committed to it - his father had been mentally ill and when his mother remarried, Ekelöf strongly disapproved of his stepfather and, by extension, of his mother who had let him in: he became a loner and a rebel already in his teens - and would never feel at ease with the mores of the established upper and middle classes or with their inhibitions and, as he perceived it, hypocrisy and back-scratching. Swedish critic Anders Olsson described Ekelöf's turn to poetry as a choice of "the only utterance that doesn't expurge the contradictions and empty spaces of language and of the mind"
Färjesång (1941), a finely expressed blend of romanticism, surrealism, and the dark clouds of the ongoing war spelled a mark of maturity and would influence later Swedish poets, as would his debut over time. From this point on, his transformations of style and imagery, his deep familiarity with a wide array of literary idioms, stretching far beyond modern writing, and an almost Bob Dylan-like propensity to make fresh departures in his writing and challenge critics' readings of his work in order to keep true to it, made him one of the most influential and, in time, widely read of Scandinavian modernist poets, a kind of father figure and challenging and inspiring model for many later writers not just in Sweden but also in Denmark and Norway. He has been translated into many languages and is a living classic of 20th century Swedish poetry. ...more

Combine Editions
Gunnar Ekelöf’s books

Average rating: 3.83 · 1,083 ratings · 107 reviews · 112 distinct works • Similar authors

	Samlade dikter 4.19 avg rating — 132 ratings — published 1971 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Färjesång 4.26 avg rating — 65 ratings — published 1941	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	sent på jorden really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 61 ratings — published 1932 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Diwan över Fursten av Emgión 3.98 avg rating — 46 ratings — published 1965 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	درب الغريب by Gunnar Ekelöf, غونار إيكيلوف, كاميران حرسان (Translator) 3.23 avg rating — 52 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Non Serviam 4.14 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 1945 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Songs of Something Else: Selected Poems 4.07 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 1982 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sagan om Fatumeh 3.79 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 1966 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Guide to the Underworld 4.04 avg rating — 26 ratings — published 1967 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Promenader och Utflykter 3.67 avg rating — 27 ratings — published 1963 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Gunnar Ekelöf…

Series by Gunnar Ekelöf

Dīwāntrilogin (3 books)
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3.94 avg rating — 101 ratings

Skrifter (8 books)
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Reidar Ekner (Redaktör, Inledning)

3.33 avg rating — 6 ratings

Dikter I - III (1 book)
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating

Quotes by Gunnar Ekelöf (?)

“Frågar du mig var jag finns
så bor jag här bakom bergen
Det är långt men jag är nära
Jag bor i en annan värld
men du bor ju i samma
Den finns överallt om också sällsynt som helium
Varför begär du ett luftskepp att fara med
Begär i stället ett filter för kväve
ett filter för kolsyra, väte och andra gaser
Begär ett filter för allt som skiljer oss
ett filter för livet
Du säger att du nästan inte kan andas
Än sen! Vem tror du kan andas?
Den mesta tiden tar vi det ändå med jämnmod
En vis man har sagt :
>>Det var så mörkt att jag nätt och jämt kunde se stjärnorna<<
Han menade bara att det var natt”
― Gunnar Ekelöf, Strountes

4 likes

“Svalor är idioter.”
― Gunnar Ekelöf, En självbiografi

4 likes

“Något av det viktigaste i all konst: att överlåta en anständig del åt läsaren, betraktaren, den medverkande. Det ska finnas en tom plats vid det dukade bordet. Den är hans.”
― Gunnar Ekelöf

tags: art, reception, the-reader

4 likes

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All About Books: Seasonal theme: Nordic Poets (January-March)	23	52	Mar 22, 2017 07:53PM

Gunnar Ekelöf’s Followers (39)

Gunnar Ekelöf

Combine EditionsGunnar Ekelöf’s books

Series by Gunnar Ekelöf

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Gunnar Ekelöf’s books