Gunnar Harding

Gunnar Harding
Born (1940-06-11) 11 June 1940 (age 83)
Sundsvall, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Occupation(s)Poet, novelist, essayist and translator
AwardsDobloug Prize (2011)

Karl Gunnar Harding (born 11 June 1940) is a Swedish poet, novelist, essayist and translator, considered 'one of Sweden's foremost poets'.[1] Among his other poetry collections is Starnberger See from 1977. Among his novels is Luffaren Svarta Hästen from 1977. He published the children's book Mannen och paraplyet in 1990.[2] He was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 2011.[3]

Biography[edit]

Gunnar Harding was born in Sundsvall and brought up in Bromma as the son of the doctor Gösta Harding. He studied painting in Stockholm and was a jazz musician before making his literary debut in 1967 with Lokomotivet som frös fast. During his early career, Harding travelled extensively in America, and this influenced his work.[4]

Harding is noted primarily for his poetry (mostly in free verse but also significant prose-poetry). Alongside this, he has written essays, a book about the origins of jazz called Kreol, and a few stories.[5]

He has also worked as an editor, for Lyrikvännen ('poetry-lover') 1971–1974, for Artes for many years, and for Artes International during its five-year run.[6] He has been a member of the Samfundet De Nio (chair number 5) since 1993[7] and served on the 1973 Swedish Bible committion 1981–1989.[8]

Harding's literary significance is partly as an introducer of foreign modernism, especially French, American and British poetry, into Swedish literature.

Harding also takes a lively interest in jazz and likes to read his poetry with jazz as background music.

Bibliography[edit]

Literary writing[edit]

  • 1967 – Lokomotivet som frös fast
  • 1968 – Den svenske cyklistens sång
  • 1969 – Blommor till James Dean
  • 1970 – Örnen har landat
  • 1971 – Guillaume Apollinaires fantastiska liv
  • 1972 – Skallgång
  • 1974 – Poesi 1967–1973
  • 1975 – Ballader
  • 1977 – Starnberger See
  • 1977 – Luffaren Svarta Hästen och det hemska rånmordet i Leksand
  • 1978 – Bilddikt, with Olle Kåks
  • 1978 – Den trådlösa fantasin
  • 1980 – Tillbaka till dig
  • 1983 – Gasljus
  • 1987 – Stjärndykaren
  • 1989 – Guillaume Apollinaires gåtfulla leende: en ändlös biografi
  • 1990 – Mannen och paraplyet, text: Gunnar Harding; pictures: Catharina Günther-Rådström
  • 1990 – Mitt vinterland
  • 1991 – Kreol
  • 1993 – Överallt där vinden finns: dikter i urval 1969–1990
  • 1995 – Stora scenen
  • 2001 – Tal på Övralid 6 juli 2001
  • 2001 – Salongsstycken kring Dante Gabriel Rossetti
  • 2003 – Det brinnande barnet
  • 2007 – Dikter 1965–2003
  • 2009 – Innerstad
  • 2012 – Blues for Jimmy ; Nordvästexpressen ; Martin Luther King [from the author's original manuscript of Blommor till James Dean] (Tragus)
  • 2013 – Mitt poetiska liv (autobiography)

Translations by Harding into Swedish[edit]

Translations of Harding's work into English[edit]

  • 1970 – The Fabulous Life of Guillaume Apollinaire, trans. by Sydney Bernard Smith (Iowa City: Windhover, 1970; Dublin: Raven Arts, 1982) [part of Guillaume Apollinaires fantastiska liv]
  • 1973 – They Killed Sitting Bull and Other Poems, trans. by Robin Fulton (London: Magazine Editions) [a selection of 25 early poems], repr. with additional translations by Anselm Hollo as Tidewater (Grosse Pointe Farms, MI: Marick Press, 2009)
  • 2014 – Gunnar Harding, Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding, ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press) [selected poems]

Anthologies[edit]

  • 1979 – Modern Swedish Poetry in Translation, with Anselm Hollo

Discography[edit]

Prizes and distinctions[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Roger Greenwald, 'Introduction', in Gunnar Harding, Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding, ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press, 2014), p. 13.
  2. ^ Godal, Anne Marit (ed.). "Gunnar Harding". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  3. ^ Godal, Anne Marit (ed.). "Doblougprisen". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  4. ^ Roger Greenwald, 'Introduction', in Gunnar Harding, Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding, ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press, 2014), p. 13.
  5. ^ Roger Greenwald, 'Introduction', in Gunnar Harding, Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding, ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press, 2014), p. 13.
  6. ^ Roger Greenwald, 'Introduction', in Gunnar Harding, Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding, ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press, 2014), p. 13.
  7. ^ url=http://www.samfundetdenio.se/pdf/Harding.pd.
  8. ^ Roger Greenwald, 'Introduction', in Gunnar Harding, Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding, ed. and trans. by Roger Greenwald (Boston, MA: Black Widow Press, 2014), p. 13.
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