Outside the Calendar

Kjell Espmark (b. 1930) is a poet, novelist, and literary historian. He is also former professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Stockholm. Since 1981 he is a member of the Swedish Academy, and since 1988 a member also of its Nobel Committee (chairman 1988-2004). He has been awarded a considerable number of prizes, including the Bellman Prize (for poetry) and the Schuck Prize (for literary criticism). His latest awards are the Kellgren Prize, the Great Prize of De Nio, and the Transtromer Prize. Espmark is an officer of L'Ordre de Merite. He has published thirteen volumes of poetry, and his poems continue to be translated into a number of languages.