New Swedish Books, Autumn 2018 1
New Swedish Books 26 Fredrik Nyberg (b. 1968) The
Zones of Sacrifice Publisher Norstedts www.norstedts.se Rights Norstedts Peter Karlsson peter.karlsson@norstedts.se Selected Works Nio, nine, neun, neuf, poems, 2008 Att bli ved, poems, 2013 Slingorna & undergången: Att bli ved III, poems, 2015 Selected Literary Prizes Lydia och Herman Erikssons stipendium, 2013 Erik Lindegren-priset, 2013 Gerard Bonniers lyrikpris, 2014 The Zones of Sacrifice Anxiety is all-encompassing. The children deal with it through strictly regulated games, the father through song and box wine. Around them the forest is burning and the plains are flooded. Through this tumultuous landscape move shadowy knights, furry forest animals and giant snakes, yet the world is easily recognisable as our own. “Imagine if everything broke apart / and became fair” says one verse, and indeed disintegration is the running theme throughout The Zones of Sacrifice. Even the language itself can only hold together until the last pages, where the words begin crumbling to pieces. Fredrik Nyberg’s short, tough poems are bound together by chimes of assonance, chorus phrases, and a wilful, sprawling metre. The result is an invaluable soundtrack to the apocalypse. Photo: Khashayar Naderehvandi