New Swedish Books. Autumn 2016 1
AUTUMN 2016 Pär Hansson KAYAK Norstedts förlag Ri
ghts: Norstedts förlag “ Kayak depicts a journey across the waters in the Swedish countryside, as well as influences from a stay in Kerala, southern India”. Kayak The origin of poetry is incantation, the path to an understanding of the environment and humanity. We ask questions, make our way into the unknown, wherever our thoughts take us. Whatever our experiences are, we seek guides. The poet Pär Hansson shows in his books the close relationship of poetry to nature and our common origin. He is both sensual and steady, he knows that of which he writes, whether the text is grounded or exists in mystical oneness with everything 27 living. Kayak depicts a journey across the waters in the Swedish countryside, as well as influences from a stay in Kerala, southern India. The kayak is a vessel, but also a being in itself, a guide into oneness with nature. But a gentle everyday realism is also brought into the portrait. The children are inquisitive, enthusiastic companions on the trip, like guarantors for a return to another way of living.