Swedish Poet Wins Nobel Prize for Literature http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/arts/swedish-poet-wins-nobel-prize-for-literature.html Swedish poet Transtromer wins Nobel in literature http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44798230/ns/world_news-europe/ The Nobel Prize in Literature 2011: Press Release http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2011/press.html Tomas Transtromer http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1112 Tomas Transtromer: Poetry http://tomastranstromer.net/poetry-3/ The Nobel Prize in Literature http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/ In one of his best-known poems, Tomas Transtromer begins his piece with "After a black day, I play Haydn/ and feel a little warmth in my hands." This Thursday Transtromer may have felt a bit more warmth as he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize to the Swedish poet, the committee remarked, "through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality." During his time as a writer, Transtromer has written more than 15 collections of poetry, many of which have been translated into different languages. His fame has increased steadily since the 1960s, and a number of scholars and editors have commented on the quality of his work in the intervening decades. Neil Astley, a British book editor, remarked that Transtromer's work is "both universal and particular." Transtromer was born in Stockholm, and after studying a range of humanistic disciplines at the University of Stockholm he spent time working as a psychologist at a correctional facility. Interestingly, a prominent British bookmaker had given odds that Bob Dylan might be the top contender for this year's prize. The first link will take users to an article from this Thursday's New York Times which provides a bit of background on the announcement from the Swedish Academy. The second link leads to an article from MSNBC Europe that includes a great quote about his work from the Swedish Academy's secretary, Peter Englund: "He's writing about big questions. He's writing about death, he's writing about history and memory, and nature." Moving along, the third link will whisk users away to the official press release from the Swedish Academy, along with a bio-bibliography. The fourth link will take visitors to a biographical profile of Transtromer from the Academy of American Poets. The fifth link leads to a site with eight of his poems, including "The Couple" and "After a Death". The last link leads to the official homepage for the Nobel Prizes in Literature. Here visitors can learn about past winners, such as William Golding, Elias Canetti, and Wole Soyinka.