Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer has won the Nobel prize for literature – the first poet to take the honour since 1996. His work has been translated into more than 50 languages. The judges praised his poetry for its “condensed translucent images” which give us “fresh access to reality”.

The Scottish poet Robin Fulton, who translated Transtromer’s New Collected Poems, said that some poets "use their own language so densely they won't translate at all. Transtromer is not one of these. In many ways the language he uses is relatively unadventurous and simple [but] he gives people unusual images [which are] sometimes very surprising, and give the reader a shock. That should be what poets do." 

Born in Stockholm in 1931, Transtromer studied at the University of Stockholm and worked as a psychologist at an institution for young offenders. He suffered a stroke in 1990 which affected his ability to talk, but has continued to write. At a recent appearance in London, his words were read by others, while the poet, who is a keen amateur musician, contributed by playing pieces specially composed for him to play on the piano with only his left hand.

 "He is very subtle, very musical and multi-layered," said Neil Astley of Bloodaxe Books, which published New Collected Poems this year. Transtromer is a "very immediate" poet, he added. "He is metaphysical and visionary but very particular, and very personal. He worked as a psychologist for most of his life, and all that psychological insight is there in the poems."