A Tide of Poetry : Collections of Poetry Published in Sweden 1976–1995

Abstract

The subject of this dissertation is the publishing of poetry in Sweden 1976–1995. The purpose is to examine the position of poetry in the Swedish book market and in the literary process. It is an empirical and statistical study based primarily on an inventory of the published works. The study shows that the publication of Swedish poetry collections in 1976–1995 consisted of 3 848 titles (new works only), which was more than ever before. Publication was consistent over the period, partly due to the allocation of the literature grant introduced by the Swedish government in 1975, but also to the technical development which made it possible for small and private publishers to release collections of poetry at a lower cost. The main publishers were the general publishing houses of Bonniers, Norstedts and Wahlström & Widstrand, but more than a third of the collections were published by vanity press and self publishers. Publication was strongly concentrated to the capital area. Regardless of the size of the publisher, poetry collections were printed in small numbers and generally sold poorly. Along with the technical development offset-printed books replaced duplicated publications, and more books were hardbound. The publishing houses made bigger efforts than ever before to publish female poets. The number increased over the period, but the men were still in a clear majority by 1995. The women were also largely responsible for rejuvenating the body of authors. The number of debutants was relatively constant during the period. The results in this dissertation indicate a hierarchic order among the publishing houses that determine the conditions for the authors and their works. This is verified through analyses of coverage in the national and regional daily papers, as well as three analyses of the authorships of Yngve Aldhagen, Else-Britt Kjellqvist and Bruno K. Öijer. The dissertation concludes that poetry exists on the publishing lists mainly for symbolical reasons; to publish poetry gives cultural capital to the publishers