Background
Martinson was born June 5, 1904, in Jämshög, Sweden. Orphaned at six, he became a public charge until he ran away to sea at 16, spending seven years as a sailor, laborer, and vagabond.
(This is the paperback edition translated from the Swedish...)
This is the paperback edition translated from the Swedish by Stephen Klass and Leif Sjöberg. Aniara (Swedish: Aniara : en revy om människan i tid och rum) is a poem of science fiction written by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson in 1956. It was selected a s the second most important book published in Sweden in the 20th century. The poem consists of 103 cantos and relates the tragedy of a space ship (4,750 m (15,580 ft) long and 891 m (2,923 ft) wide) which, originally bound for Mars with a cargo of colonists from the ravaged Earth, after an accident is ejected from the solar system and into an existential struggle. The poem was referenced in Vernor Vinge's hard science fiction novel A Fire Upon the Deep. It was also an influence for Poul Anderson's hard science fiction novel Tau Zero.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1885266634/?tag=2022091-20
Martinson was born June 5, 1904, in Jämshög, Sweden. Orphaned at six, he became a public charge until he ran away to sea at 16, spending seven years as a sailor, laborer, and vagabond.
Travel has characterized much of his work as in the poetry of Spökskepp (1929) and Nomad (1931), and the travel books Resor utan mål (1932; "Aimless Journeys") and Kap Farväl! (1933), stories of the sea in which he develops the philosophy of the "World Nomad. "
Self-analytical descriptions of his difficult childhood are the basis for two autobiographical works, Nässlorna blomma (1935; Flowering Nettle, 1936) and Vägen ut (1936; "The Way Out"). The prose works SvärmareSvarmare och harkrank (1937; "Hawkmoths and Daddy-longlegs") and Midsommardalen (1938; "Midsummer Valley") are studies of Swedish nature in which parallels are drawn between the small and the great.
His humanistic concerns, which are revealed in his reaction against a developing technology, are expressed in Verklighet till döds (1940; "Reality to Death") and the novel Denförlorade jaguaren (1941; "The Lost Jaguar").
In the poetry of Passad (1945; "Trade Winds"), nature dominates in its microscopic, overlooked elements, all superficiality is rejected, and the mode of travel is inward. These same qualities are embodied in the main character of the novel Vägen till Klockrike (1948; The Road, 1955), a story of the vagabond Bolle, who maintains a basic belief in human goodness despite all suffering. Distrust of technology and faith in nature's ability to give solace to humanity continues in the poetry of Gräsen in Thule (1958; "The Grasses in Thule") and Vagnen (1960; "The Wagon"). In his last work, Tuvor (1974; "Tussocks"), nature is again the motif in short haiku-like poems.
(This is the paperback edition translated from the Swedish...)
From 1929 to 1940, he was married to Moa Martinson, whom he met through a Stockholm anarchist newspaper Brand. He travelled to the Soviet Union in 1934. He and Moa were divorced due to her criticism of his lack of political commitment.
Moa became a writer; Harry married Ingrid Lindcrantz in 1942.