Per Wästberg

Per Wästberg, 2010

Per Erik Wästberg (born 20 November 1933) is a Swedish writer and a member of the Swedish Academy since 1997.

Wästberg was born in Stockholm, son of Erik Wästberg and his wife Greta née Hirsch, and holds a degree in literature from Uppsala University. He was editor-in-chief of Sweden's largest daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter 1976–1982, and has been a contributor since 1953. He is an older brother of Olle Wästberg.

Political works

Wästberg has campaigned extensively for human rights. He was President of the PEN International from 1979 until 1986 and founder of the Swedish section of Amnesty International (1963). In connection with this, he was involved in the anti-colonial movement. He was especially active in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, where he became a close friend of Nadine Gordimer.

He was expelled by the government in Rhodesia in 1959, and after publication of his anti-Apartheid book På Svarta Listan (On the Black List) in 1960, he was banned from entering both Rhodesia and South Africa. He returned to South Africa only in 1990, after the release from jail of Nelson Mandela.

List of published works

Novels

• Pojke med såpbubblor (1949)
• Ett gammalt skuggspel (1952)
• Halva kungariket (1955)
• Arvtagaren (1958)
• Vattenslottet (1968)
• Luftburen (1969)
• Jordmånen (1972)
• Eldens skugga (1986)
• Bergets källa (1987)
• Ljusets hjärta (1991)
• Vindens låga (1993)

Poetry

• Tio atmosfärer (1963)
• Enkel resa (1964)
• En avlägsen likhet (1983)
• Frusna tillgångar (1990)
• Förtöjningar (1995)
• Tre rader (1998)
• Raderingar (1999)
• Fortifikationer (2001)
• Tillbaka i tid (2004)

On Africa and the Third World

• Förbjudet område (1960)
• På svarta listan (1960)
• Afrika berättar (1961)
• Afrika-ett uppdrag (1976)
• I Sydafrika – resan till friheten (1995)
• Modern afrikansk litteratur (1969)
• Afrikansk poesi (1971)
• Resor, intervjuver, porträtt, politiska analyser från en långvarig vistelse i Sydafrika (1994)

Biographies and essays

• Ernst och Mimmi, biografi genom brev (1964)
• Alice och Hjördis Två systrar (1994)
• En dag på världsmarknaden (1967)
• Berättarens ögonblick (1977)
• Obestämda artiklar (1981)
• Bestämda artiklar (1982)
• Frukost med Gerard (1992)
• Lovtal (1996)
• Ung mans dagbok (1996)
• Ung författares dagbok (1997)
• Duvdrottningen (1998)
• Edith Whartons hemliga trädgård (2000)
• Övergångsställen (2002)
• Ute i livet : en memoar (1980–1994) (2012)
• Gustaf Adolf Lysholm : diktare, drömmare, servitör – en biografi (2013)
• Per Wästbergs Stockholm (2013)
• Lovord (2014)
• Erik och Margot : en kärlekshistoria (2014)
• Mellanblad (2015)

In English

• The case against Portugal – Angola and Mozambique (with Anders Ehnmark, 1965)
• Assignments in Africa (1986)

External links

• Curriculum Vitae from the Nobel Prize Committee
• Interview and profile first published in Prospect magazine
• PEN International