Johannes Anyuru
{{short description|Swedish poet and author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Johannes Anyuru
| image = Johannes Anyuru 2010.jpg
| caption = Johannes Anyuru in 2010.
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|3|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = Borås, Sweden
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Swedish
| spouses =
| awards =
| notablework = Städerna inuti Hall
| period = 2003–
}}
Johannes Anyuru (born 23 March 1979) is a Swedish poet and author.
Biography
Anyuru was born in Borås.{{Cite web|url=http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/smalandsnytt/vaxjo-johannes-anyuru-sommarvard-i-p1|title = Växjö – Johannes Anyuru sommarvärd i P1|date = 8 June 2010}} His father is from Uganda and his mother is Swedish.SVT 1: Babel 9 September 2010
He debuted in 2003 with Det är bara gudarna som är nya (Only the Gods Are New), a poetry collection. In this collection of poems Anyuru used Homer's epic Iliad as a background and inspiration for the portrayal of immigrant neighborhoods. A place that is often mentioned in his poetry is the area around Mörners road in Växjö, where Anyuru lived as a child.{{cite web|author=Fanny Söderbäck |url=https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/gamla-gudar-och-nya/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731182705/http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/gamla-gudar-och-nya-1.194714 |url-status=live |archive-date=31 July 2012 |title=Gamla gudar och nya |language=sv |work=Dagens Nyheter |date=7 July 2003 |access-date=28 August 2010 }} Reviews of this book linked his style to both older contemporary Swedish poets as Göran Sonnevi or Tomas Tranströmer, and hip hop band The Latin Kings.{{cite web |url=http://tidningenkulturen.se/index.php/13-litteratur/litteratur-kritik/5079-litteratur-johannes-anyuru-staederna-inuti-hall |title= Litteratur: Johannes Anyuru, Städerna inuti Hall |last=Fries |first=Jonna |date=22 September 2009 |website=tidningenkulturen.se |language=sv |access-date=1 June 2015 }} Anyurus second poetry collection, Omega, is a much more downbeat since it deals with the loss of a close friend to cancer.{{cite news|url=http://www.svd.se/kulturnoje/litteratur/varifran-och-varthan_31361.svd |title=Recension: Anyuru, Johannes – Omega (Övrigt) | SvD |newspaper=Svenska Dagbladet |date=18 August 2005 |language=sv |access-date=28 August 2010|last1=Lundberg |first1=Johan }} Anyurus third collection, Städerna inuti Hall (The Cities Inside Hall){{cite web|author=Johannes Anyuru |url=https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/bocker/utdrag-ur-staderna-inuti-hall-s-27-30/ |title=Utdrag ur "Städerna inuti Hall" s. 27-30 |language=sv |work=Dagens Nyheter |date=16 January 2010 |access-date=28 August 2010}} was published in 2009 and describes sad socio-political landscape.
His fourth book Skulle jag dö under andra himlar (If I Were to Die Under Other Skies){{cite web|url=http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789113022086/skulle-jag-do-under-andra-himlar/ |title=Skulle jag dö under andra himlar – Johannes Anyuru – Bokus bokhandel |publisher=Bokus.com |date=12 August 2010 |access-date=28 August 2010|language=sv}} is not a poetry book, but prose.
He has also worked with spoken word as part of the group Broken Word and a touring performance with the National Swedish Touring Theatre called Abstrakt rap. Both projects has been released as CD's.{{cite web|author=Andreas Ekström |url=https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/poeten-som-rappar-orimmat/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729082323/http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/poeten-som-rappar-orimmat-1.324767 |url-status=live |archive-date=29 July 2012 |title=Poeten som rappar orimmat |language=sv |work=Dagens Nyheter |date=10 November 2004 |access-date=28 August 2010 }}
In December 2009 he debuted with his first play Förvaret (The Detention Centre), at the Gothenburg City Theatre, co-written with Aleksander Motturi.{{cite web|author=Ingegärd Waaranperä|url=https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/scenrecensioner/forvaret-pa-nya-studion-goteborgs-stadsteater/ |title="Förvaret" på Nya Studion Göteborgs Stadsteater |language=sv |work=Dagens Nyheter |date=13 December 2009 |access-date=28 August 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217012257/http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/scenrecensioner/forvaret-pa-nya-studion-goteborgs-stadsteater-1.1013619 |archive-date=17 December 2009 }}
During the summer of 2010, he was one of several hosts of the radio program Sommar.{{cite web|url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/126298?programid=2071 |title=Johannes Anyuru - Sommar i P1 | Sveriges Radio |publisher=Sverigesradio.se |date=28 July 2010 |access-date=28 August 2010}}
Bibliography
- Det är bara gudarna som är nya (poetry collection, 2003)
- Omega (poetry collection, 2005)
- Städerna inuti Hall (poetry collection, 2009)
- Skulle jag dö under andra himlar (novel, 2010)
- En storm kom från paradiset (novel, 2012)
- A Storm Blew in from Paradise (novel, 2015; translated into English by Rachel Willson-Broyles, 2019)
- De kommer att drunkna i sina mödrars tårar (novel, 2017)
- They Will Drown in their Mothers' Tears (novel, 2017; translated into English by Saskia Vogel, 2019)
Honours
- Nöjesguiden Magazine award for best read 2003
- Guldprinsen prize 2003
- Kallebergers scholarship 2005
- Spingo-scholarship 2005
- Augustpriset nominee 2012, winner 2017
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/bocker/nominerad-till-dns-kulturpris-2010-johannes-anyuru/ Dagens Nyheter]
{{August Prize Best Fiction|state=collapsed}}
{{Dobloug Prize winners |state =collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anyuru, Johannes}}
Category:Swedish people of Ugandan descent
Category:Swedish-language writers
Category:Swedish-language poets