For the Living and the Dead - Tapa blanda

Poetry. Translated from the Swedish by John F. Deane. John F. Deane's translation of Tomas Tranströmer's 1989 collection FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD (För levande och döda) originally appeared with The Dedalus Press (Ireland) in 1994. Published in the United States for the first time, this new edition contains a revised translation as well as a new introduction and translator's note. FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD contains some of Tranströmer's most widely anthologized poems, including "Vermeer" and "Romanesque Arches." At long last, this important work from one of the world's most celebrated poets is back in print in a single volume.

"Tranströmer's power with imagery is unsurpassed; a poem of his gathers disparate images from several sources and offers a poetry that is immensely rich, deep and wide-ranging. The imagery remains true to the actual world and yet discovers mysteries that touch on a universal human memory. His power emanates from such conjunctions, going beyond what he calls the 'truth barrier.' His work honors his native Sweden and yet ranges the world.... His is a deeply human and resonating voice, capacious, exciting, and immensely readable."—John F. Deane, from the introduction

Tomas Transtromer, winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature, is one of the most celebrated and influential poetic figures of his generation. He was born in Stockholm in 1931 and educated at the Sodra Latin School and the University of Stockholm, where he received a degree in psychology. He began his psychology career in the early 1960s at Roxtuna, a juvenile corrections institute in Sweden, and worked for several decades in the field. Since the publication of 17 Dikter (17 Poems) in 1954, Transtromer has written eleven full-length collections of poetry, most recently Den stora gatan (The Vast Enigma) in 2004. He is one of the world's most translated poets (with books appearing in numerous editions in over fifty languages). In addition to his renown as a poet, Transtromer is also a highly regarded concert pianist and entomologist. He lives with his wife in Stockholm.