Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer is the winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in literature. The Swedish Academy said Tranströmer, 80, won "because, through his condensed, translucent images he gives us fresh access to reality."

Tranströmer worked as a psychologist in addition to writing poetry. He is well known in Sweden, the Swedish Academy's permanent secretary, Peter Englund, said after announcing the award, and his poetry has been published in more than 60 languages.

In the U.S., Tranströmer's poetry recently has been published by independent presses. "The Half-Finished Heaven" (Graywolf) is a collection of selected poems that was published in 2001; a larger collection, "The Great Enigma," was published by New Directions in 2006. His "Selected Poems" was published by Ecco, a division of HarperCollins, in 2000.

It has been 40 years since a Swedish writer has won the Nobel Prize in literature.

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-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: Tomas Tranströmer. Credit: Miriam Berkley