Background

Per Erik Wästberg was born on November 20, 1933, in Stockholm, Sweden, to Erik Wästberg, a journalist, and his wife Greta (Hirsch) Wästberg.

Education

As the son of successful Swedish journalist Erik Wastberg, Per benefited from both educational privileges and an intimate view of Stockholm’s literary world. He made up his mind to be a writer at an early age and published a collection of short stories, Pojke med såpbubblor, in 1949. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in African literature from the University of Uppsala.

Career

Wästberg made his debut at a record young age in 1949, the same year as Lars Forssell and Östen Sjöstrand – but on entirely different grounds. He was a particularly precocious grammar-school boy. For some years at the beginning of the 1950s he founded a school. With the 15-year-old as an example the publishers went out and – in Wästberg’s words – "picked up writers in the school playgrounds". They were looking for a new type of literature, the young, affirmative, direct literature as an opposite of the dominant, "difficult", angst literature of the 1940s. Per Wästberg in a certain sense symbolised rebirth after the war.

During this period the young Wästberg kept a diary. Half a century later he published his diary notes. Ung mans dagbok (1996; ‘Young man’s diary’) deals with the period 1946–50, from the age of twelve. As a portrayal of early post-war Stockholm filtered through the eyes of a precocious city child the book is invaluable. The next year, 1997, this was followed up with En ung författares dagbok (‘A young writer’s diary’), Wästberg’s private notes from 1951 to 53 on his first, trembling period as an author.

Following the novel Ett gammalt skuggspel, Wästberg started writing literary criticism in the national daily Dagens Nyheter in 1953, where he later became cultural editor and editor-in-chief between 1976 and 1982. It soon proved that the infant genius had developed into a real author. In 1955 came the first truly mature novel, Halva kungariket (‘Half my kingdom’). Some years later the book was followed up with what was to be the untiringly productive author’s last novel for a decade.

Wästberg was expelled by the government in the then 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. The banning was the consequence of his exposing to the international audiences the torrid experiences the apartheid state visited on South African humanity. His ban from both Rhodesia and South Africa lasted until the unbanning of the liberation movements and the release from jail of Nelson Mandela. He returned to South Africa only in 1990, after Mandela’s release.

Per Wästberg became a travel writer and in addition the most important introducer of African literature to Sweden. The two books from 1960 are important period documents. Förbjudet område (‘Forbidden area’) from Rhodesia, while På svarta listan (‘On the black-list’) from South Africa mix genres as diary, portraits and political analysis in order to illustrate the shock when a neutral Swede meets the everyday of apartheid. The books spread far outside the Nordic countries and gained great importance for Swedish commitment to Southern Africa. And in the rich anthology of 1961, Afrika berättar (‘Africa tells’), which came out in an expanded version in 1970, Wästberg managed to point out most essential African writing. A summing up of his South African commitment came in 1995 in the voluminous I Sydafrika – Resan mot friheten (‘In South Africa – the journey towards freedom’).

In 1964 Wästberg started Swedish Amnesty together with the solicitor Hans Göran Franck, in 1967 he became chairman of the Swedish PEN-club, later also of the international PEN-club for some ten years; and in an article in the evening newspaper Expressen on 4 August 1967, written together with Thomas Hammarberg, he coined the idea of "converting Sweden into a multicultural society". Despite his political commitment he became suspect during the politicised half of the 1960s. The reason was the novel trilogy on love in Stockholm of the 1960s. Vattenslottet (1968; ‘The water castle’), Luftburen (1969; ‘Airborne / The air cage’) and Jordmånen (1972; ‘The soil / The earth-moon’) take place in upper-class surroundings and are written in an airy, light, prose-poetic language with intentionally stylised, occasionally aphoristic dialogue.

The trilogy was followed up by a tetralogy. A quartet of novels is about diplomat Johan Fredrik Victorin, traveller in Africa Wilhelm Knutson and municipal architect Ellen Mörk in Stockholm and the Cameroons. Eldens skugga (1986; ‘The shadow of the fire’), Bergets källa (1987; ’The spring of the mountain’), Ljusets hjärta (1991; ‘The heart of the light’) and Vindens låga (1993; ‘The flame of the wind’) explore the nuances of sensual experience, stages of devotion in love, clarity of vision, continual discovery. In the figures there is a split between adventure and middle-class values, uncertainty and conformity, the wisdom of diplomacy and the infatuation of passion.

More recently Per Wästberg has published as a poet with works including En avlägsen likhet (1983; ‘A remote similarity’), Förtöjningar (1995; ‘Moorings’) and a trilogy of three-line poems: Tre rader (1998; ‘Three lines’), Raderingar (1999; ‘Erasures’ [or ‘Etchings’]) and Fortifikationer (2001; ‘Fortifications’). Short prose and aphorisms are collected in Obestämda artiklar (1982; ‘Indefinite articles’) and Frusna tillgångar (1990; ‘Frozen assets’). Wästberg has portrayed various parts of Stockholm in e.g. Klara (1957), Östermalm (1962), Humlegårdsmästaren (1971; ‘The master of Humlegården’) and Kring Johannes (1994; ‘Around Johannes’) – a genre that mixes reporting, interviewing and memoirs. It is interesting that Per Wästberg tackled an entirely new genre, the biographical novel, in Anders Sparrmans resa (2008) (Anders Sparrman’s Journey), not just because it was his first novel for fifteen years but also because it is typical of his untiring urge to discover.

Achievements

• A prolific writer with diverse interests, Per Wastberg has distinguished himself as a novelist, essayist, poet, and editor. A prodigy who published his first book at the age of fifteen, Wastberg’s early adult career was shaped by travel in Africa. He later became cultural editor and editor-in-chief of Dagens Nyheter, a Stockholm newspaper, and cofounder of Sweden’s Amnesty International as well as the Swedish Defense and Aid Fund for South Africa.
  
  Wastberg’s accomplishments led to his 1997 election as a life member of the Swedish Academy. He was awarded the Övralid prize in 1993, the Gerard Bonnier prize in 1995 and The Society of Nine Great Prize in 1997.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Arvtagaren 1958
  • Vattenslottet 1968
  • Luftburen 1969
  • Jordmånen 1972
  • Eldens skugga 1986
  • Bergets källa 1987
  • Ljusets hjärta 1991
  • Tio atmosfärer 1963
  • Förtöjningar 1995
  • Fortifikationer 2001
  • Vagarna till Afrika 1961
  • Alice och Hjördis Två systrar 1994
  • Bestämda artiklar 1982
  • Lovtal 1996
  • Ung mans dagbok 1996

Views

Common threads throughout Per's work are his concern for literature, personal freedom, liberal politics, the development of African countries and culture, and his home country of Sweden.

In the late 1950s, Wastberg traveled to Africa after receiving a Rotary grant. Observing the region’s social and economic conditions, he became an advocate for human rights. His opposition to white supremacist rule would lead to his being banned from South Africa. He also became active in presenting black African culture to outside audiences. Fired up with the passion to see all humanity free from the bondage of colonialism, he was involved in the anti-colonial movement. He was especially active in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

Membership

Per Wästberg was a member of the International PEN. He was elected to the Swedish Academy on 17 April 1997 and admitted on 20 December 1997.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• "Wastberg is a many-faceted but highly disciplined writer. He enjoys broad appeal even though his liberalism, intellectualism, and romanticism tend to distinguish him from the majority of his contemporaries for whom political commitment is singularly important. His social engagement is to broad issues concerning fundamental human rights and values and can be evoked with great power but also with considerable sophistication and subtlety."

Connections

From 1955 to 1974, Wästberg was married to Anna-Lena Wastberg. After their divorce, Per married Anita Theorell in 1992. In 2005, the couple broke up, and Per married Sofia Augustdotter Wästberg in 2007. Wästberg has two children - Johanna and Jakob.

Father:

Erik Wästberg

Mother:

Greta (Hirsch) Wästberg

child:

Johanna Wästberg

child:

Jakob Wästberg

ex-wife:

Anna-Lena Wästberg

ex-wife:

Anita Theorell

Born on August 28, 1941

Ingrid Anita Teorell Westberg is a Swedish artist and writer.

Wife:

Sofia Augustdotter Wästberg

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Non-Fiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, TV, & Other Fields, Vol. 193 In response to the escalating need for up-to-date information on writers, Contemporary Authors New Revision Series brings researchers the most recent data on the worlds most-popular authors.
  2010