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THE INNER SPACE

Kjell Espmark

THE INNER SPACE

Kjell Espmark

Translated by Robin Fulton Macpherson

Paperback
Publication Date: October 2014
142 Pages
ISBN13: 978-1-934851-58-6
USD $15.00 + Shipping

Kjell Espmark´s The Inner Space (Den inre rymden, 2014) is the culmination of an oeuvre ranging over more than a half century. His previous book of poetry, Vintergata (2007), in English called Lend Me Your Voice, was a success. One of the leading Swedish newspapers, Svenska Dagbladet, called it the best Swedish poetry in the new millenium and it was promptly translated into ten languages, including Chinese and Arabic. The new book is to appear in Sweden in the autumn of 2014, but is simultaneously published in Italian, Spanish, and Arabic. A Chinese version is on its way. Vintergata – literally Milky Way – is a constellation of a hundred small mono-logues in which the dead from all ages, some famous, most of them anonymous, appeal to our attention. They could be said to form a modest history on the margin of History. The Inner Space can be placed beside the former book, but is more personal and has a lighter mood. It brings us a further hundred monologues but this time there is a continuous shift between autobiographical moments and the voices of the dead. The earlier book finished in the picture of an ego on a bench at the bay, hit by an obviously fatal heart attack.The new book starts there, in a new attempt at life, recreating prehistory and family chronicle, childhood and formation, work and love, up to ”the final vertigo of children´s voices”. The ages appear unhampered by logic, one beside the other – your head is ”full of memories of all that hasn´t happened yet”. At the same time urgent voices from outside break in, voices that carry essential, often harrowing messages, contributing to form the life they invade. This poetry is direct, clearcut and dramatic, presenting ”the second simplicity” that one of the poems talks about. It addresses a wide audience.

About the Author, Kjell Espmark

Kjell Espmark (b. 1930) is a poet, novelist, and literary historian. He is also a former professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Stockholm. He has been a member of the Swedish Academy since 1981, and since 1988, he has been a member of the Nobel Committee and served as chairman from 1988-2004. He has been awarded a number of prizes, including the Bellman Prize for poetry and the Schuck Prize for literary criticism. His most recent awards include The Kellgren Prize, The Great Prize of De Nio (“The Nine”), and the Tranströmer Prize. He is an officer of L´Ordre de Merite. Espmark has published thirteen volumes of poetry. His poems continue to be translated into a number of languages.

About the Translator, Robin Fulton Macpherson

Robin Fulton Macpherson is a Scottish poet and translator. Recent poets translated include Norwegian Olav Hauge (Anvil Press Poetry, London, 2003) and Swedes Tomas Tranströmer (New Directions, N.Y. 2006) and Harry Martinson (from Bloodaxe). A bilingual selection of his own poems, translated and published by Margitt Lehbert, appeared in 2008.

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Upcoming Events

Sept24The Poets’ Follies Reading Series, sponsored by Marick Press and The Oakland University Writing Center, will feature the poetry of David Young, Todd Swift and Jason Storms at 6:30PM. The reading will be followed by a question and answer session.
Wednesday September 24, 2014
6:30PM, Room 212, Kresge Library at Oakland University
Rochester, MI 48309

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