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Robin Fulton generously delivers precise translations of the renowned Swedish poet Kjell Espmark. Espmark may speak eloquently of a man without voice, without the sufficient language to act, as he writes in his poem "Silence" It's getting dark. The spruce trees blacken like the pages of my calendar. But turn the pages and let the blackness light your way. Yes, I usually speak in a borrowed voice, the voice of the woman who reads in me translating my Swedish into Swedish. Like pressing oneself through a keyhole and almost getting shoulders and hips through it. But this poet's words ring in our ears in a language beyond words, beyond continents or social strata; his voice is that of a man who has something to say that we all must hear.
Kjell Espmark
Kjell Espmark, born 1930, is a poet, novelist and literary critic, and has been a member of the Swedish Academy since 1981. He is published in some twenty languages and has been awarded several international prizes. He made his debut in 1956 with the collection of poems The Murder of Benjamin and in the late 1980s he made another notable debut, this time as a novelist. Glömskan (1987) began a novel suite of seven volumes, called Glömskans tid.As a literary scholar, Kjell Espmark is a specialist in modernism, with books about Artur Lundkvist, Harry Martinson and Tomas Tranströmer. Kjell Espmark is one of Sweden's foremost poets, and a number of his works are gathered deliberately into trilogies. A particular aspect of his work is the monologue, often from the mouths of historical figures, famous or otherwise.
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