Per Wästberg

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Swedish author Per Wästberg, member of the Swedish Academy, at the 2010 Göteborg Book Fair.

Per Erik Wästberg (born 20 November 1933) is a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy since 1997.

Wästberg was born in Stockholm, son of Erik Wästberg and his wife Greta née Hirsch, and holds a degree in literature from Uppsala University. He was editor-in-chief of Sweden's largest daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter 1976–1982, and has been a contributor since 1953. He is an older brother of Olle Wästberg.^[1]

Literary work[]

Wästberg, who, as a luminary of Amnesty International and a former president of International PEN – as well as being a member of the Nobel Prize for Literature committee – possesses his own impeccable do-gooding credentials, has rescued a beguiling soul from oblivion while subtly reminding readers.

The novel of Anders Sparrman written by Per Wästberg shows that the subject of this poetic biographical novel, was a Swedish natural scientist, the first zoologist to study, for example, the African rhino. Even by the time he died, in 1820, no one had traveled further south. But as Per Wästberg reveals in a touching postscript, Sparrman's life, despite laudable scientific discovery and ground breaking cartography, remained obscure.^[2]

Political works[]

Wästberg has campaigned extensively for human rights. He was President of the PEN International from 1979 until 1986 and founder of the Swedish section of Amnesty International (1963). In connection with this, he was involved in the anti-colonial movement. He was especially active in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, where he became a close friend of Nadine Gordimer.

He was expelled by the government in Rhodesia in 1959, and after publication of his anti-Apartheid book På svarta listan (On the Black List) in 1960, he was banned from entering both Rhodesia and South Africa. He returned to South Africa only in 1990, after the release from jail of Nelson Mandela.

List of published works[]

Novels[]

• Pojke med såpbubblor (1949)
• Ett gammalt skuggspel (1952)
• Halva kungariket (1955)
• Arvtagaren (1958)
• Vattenslottet (1968)
• Luftburen (1969)
• Jordmånen (1972)
• Eldens skugga (1986)
• Bergets källa (1987)
• Ljusets hjärta (1991)
• Vindens låga (1993)
• Anders Sparrmans resa: en biografisk roman (2008)

Poetry[]

• Tio atmosfärer (1963)
• Enkel resa (1964)
• En avlägsen likhet (1983)
• Frusna tillgångar (1990)
• Förtöjningar (1995)
• Tre rader (1998)
• Raderingar (1999)
• Fortifikationer (2001)
• Tillbaka i tid (2004)

On Africa and the Third World[]

• Förbjudet område (1960)
• På svarta listan (1960)
• Afrika berättar (1961)
• Afrika-ett uppdrag (1976)
• I Sydafrika – resan till friheten (1995)
• Modern afrikansk litteratur (1969)
• Afrikansk poesi (1971)
• Resor, intervjuver, porträtt, politiska analyser från en långvarig vistelse i Sydafrika (1994)

Biographies and essays[]

• Ernst och Mimmi, biografi genom brev (1964)
• Alice och Hjördis Två systrar (1994)
• En dag på världsmarknaden (1967)
• Berättarens ögonblick (1977)
• Obestämda artiklar (1981)
• Bestämda artiklar (1982)
• Frukost med Gerard (1992)
• Lovtal (1996)
• Ung mans dagbok (1996)
• Ung författares dagbok (1997)
• Duvdrottningen (1998)
• Edith Whartons hemliga trädgård (2000)
• Övergångsställen (2002)
• Ute i livet : en memoar (1980–1994) (2012)
• Gustaf Adolf Lysholm : diktare, drömmare, servitör – en biografi (2013)
• Per Wästbergs Stockholm (2013)
• Lovord (2014)
• Erik och Margot : en kärlekshistoria (2014)
• Mellanblad (2015)

In English[]

• The case against Portugal – Angola and Mozambique (with Anders Ehnmark, 1965)
• Assignments in Africa (1986)

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Per Wästberg.

• Curriculum Vitae from the Nobel Prize Committee
• Interview and profile first published in Prospect magazine
• PEN International