08/10/2011 11:01
Nobel Prize in literature to Swedish Tomas Tranströmer
The Nobel Prize in literature was awarded Thursday to a psychologist who used his spare time to craft sparsely written poems about the mysteries of everyday life - commuting to work, watching the sun rise or waiting for nightfall. Tomas Tranströmer, Sweden's most famous poet, had been a favorite for the prize for so many years that even his countrymen had started to doubt whether he would ever win, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Now 80 and retired from writing, he finally got the call as he sat down to watch the prize announcement on TV.
Asked how it felt to be the first Swede in four decades to win the literature prize, he told reporters: "Very good."
Tranströmer (TRAWN-stroh-mur) has long been recognized as the most influential Scandinavian poet of the post-World War II era. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages.
The last Swedes to win the literature prize were Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson, who shared it in 1974.