On Tomas Tranströmer

I first read Tomas Tranströmer when I was fourteen or fifteen. I had started to write poems influenced by the Swedish postpunk band Imperiet, whose songs led me to one of their big influences, the Beat-and-Dylan-influenced poet Bruno K. Öijer. To keep me out of trouble and to encourage my interest, my mom enrolled me in a summer class in poetry with the Twin Cities poet John Minczeski. Coming out of a Bly-influenced Minnesota poetry scene, Minczeski gave us a lot of work in translation, including three Tranströmer poems: “Allegro,” “Elegy,” and “Tracks.” I have not stopped reading his poems since.