Kelly Nelson

Erasures and Translations of Tomas Tranströmer

In a room not far from the racetrack

from “Paret” (The Deleted World, 1962)

The Letter

from “Höstlig Skårgård” (The Deleted World, 1962)
         

One spring break on Maui

from “Islandsk Orkan” (Det vilda torget, 1983)

Prostitute at Career Day Q & A

from “Nattboksblad” (Sorgegondolen, 1997)

Tomas Tranströmer was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1931 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011. Along with many collections of poetry, he published a memoir and a book of letters from his 25–year correspondence with the poet Robert Bly.

Kelly Nelson is the author of the chapbooks Rivers I Don’t Live By and Who Was I to Say I Was Alive. Her erasure–translations have appeared or are forthcoming in Structo; Jet Fuel Review; Forklift, Ohio; Hinchas de Poesía; Best Experimental Writing; and elsewhere. She holds a PhD in Anthropology from Brandeis University and teaches Interdisciplinary Studies at Arizona State University.