WILLIAM ALLEGREZZA Reviews
Swedish Poetry Nowadays: An Anthology of 6 Poets in the 21st Century, Editor
Kristian Carlsson
(Malmö: Dracopis Press, 2016)
Swedish Poetry Nowadays: An Anthology of 6 Poets in
the 21st Century is not a
comprehensive anthology of Swedish poetry, but it does not try to be. Kristian Carlsson, the editor and translator,
presents the work of six excellent poets who use innovative techniques. Three men, three women—all with distinct
styles, and with each, we get enough of a selection to get a sense of their
writing. This feature is what makes this
collection so worthwhile—the reader can put it down with a sense of really
having encountered a vibrant element of Swedish poetry now.
And each poet in the is
quite different. For example, Johannes
Anyuru presents poems that contain characters and elements of story:
A
young girl plays the hollow metal
receptacle
shaped as a saucer, crouching
by
a wall
The
squad car stops, rotates
unfolding
into
a corridor
of
glimmering mirrors
The
global state of violence
is
the hollow core
of
existence (20)
This story is, of course,
brief, but in its condensation, we are left with many questions that are
intriguing. The last stanza especially
pulls in a political theme. We are not
guided in what to think about it, but just given it to think about.
Eva-Stina Byggmäastar’s work is quite lyrical but with an
almost surreal element.
my wilderness poets, I’m feeding them with blueberry
porridge, they like that—yes, I was like a mother to
them.
but poets, if they existed. live, in small. houses, their
sofas ought to be comfy.
In the short space of
these lines, we have several layered images of poets who appear more like birds
than people. Byggmäastar’s poems contain
narrative, but the narrative is metaphoric and pensive. The reader is left with questions about the
nature of the poetic act and the poet’s relation to it.
Naima Chahboun, Martin Högström, Freke Räihä, and Matilda
Södergran all present work that is compelling.
I knew Freke Räihä’s work already, but the rest were relatively new to
me, and it is not easy to find their works in English. In fact, the one thing I wish the book had
was the poetry also in Swedish. The
English translations are so easy to ready, they almost seem like they are not
translations, so it would be nice to look at the originals in comparison. Either way, this collection makes a great
step into presenting some Swedish poets in English, and it would be great to
seem more collections like it.
*****
William
Allegrezza edits the Moria Books
and the e-zine Moss Trill. He teaches at Indiana University Northwest.
He has previously published many poetry books, including Step Below:
Selected Poems 2000-2015, In the Weaver's Valley, Ladders in July,
Fragile Replacements, Collective Instant, Aquinas and the Mississippi (with
Garin Cycholl), Covering Over, and Densities, Apparitions; two
anthologies, The City Visible: Chicago Poetry for the New Century and La
Alteración del Silencio: Poesía Norteamericana Reciente; seven chapbooks,
including Sonoluminescence (co-written with Simone Muench) and Filament
Sense (Ypolita Press); and many poetry reviews, articles, and poems.
He also edited The Salt Companion to Charles Bernstein. He founded and
curated series A, a reading series in Chicago, from 2006-2010. In addition, he
occasionally posts his thoughts at P-Ramblings.
