Literary Birthday – 6 May – Harry Martinson

Harry Martinson was born on 6 May 1904 and died on 11 February 1978.

Harry Martinson Quotes

1. The art of negotiation is perhaps what most deeply distinguishes man from the animals, and it is this art and this will to negotiate that has brought man forward, elevated him beyond the animals.
2. Our soul is worn by dreams, we keep on rubbing dream against dream for want of something real. (Aniara)
3. Now we have fathomed what our spaceship is — a tiny bubble in a glass of God. (Aniara)
4. Man has always dreamed of pathways through the stars, yet carries his loneliness wherever he goes. (Aniara)
5. There is protection against almost everything — but none against mankind. (Aniara)
6. We fled from Earth and found ourselves instead. (Aniara)

Harry Martinson was a Swedish author, poet, and former sailor. He was the first self-taught, working-class writer to be elected to the Swedish Academy. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1974 “for writings that catch the dewdrop and reflect the cosmos”. His works include poetry and prose, characterised by expressive and original language. Themes include his experiences during a harsh and unloving childhood and during his youth spent as a seaman and vagrant with no fixed home or steady job. He was first married to author, Moa Martinson, and later to Ingrid Martinson, with whom he had two children.

Source for Image: Harald Borgström, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harry_Martinson_001.tiff

by Amanda Patterson

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