Stig Dagerman, Swedish journalist and writer (b. 1923)
Stig Halvard Dagerman (5 October 1923 – 4 November 1954) was a Swedish journalist and writer. He was one of the most prominent Swedish authors writing in the aftermath of World War II, but his existential texts transcend time and place and continue to be widely published in Sweden and abroad.
Stig Dagerman was born in Älvkarleby, Uppsala County. In the course of five years, 1945–49, he enjoyed phenomenal success with four novels, a collection of short stories, a book about postwar Germany, five plays, hundreds of poems and satirical verses, several essays of note and a large amount of journalism. Then, with apparent suddenness, he fell silent. In the fall of 1954, Sweden was stunned to learn that Stig Dagerman, the epitome of his generation of writers, had been found dead in his car: he had closed the doors of the garage and run the engine.Dagerman's works have been translated into many languages, and his works continues to inspire readers, writers, musicians and filmmakers.
His collected works are available in eleven volumes. Scholars have examined his writing from every possible angle: philosophical, political, psychological, journalistic, its relationship to the medium of film, and why French and Italian readers have found him particularly appealing. Artists continue to put music to his texts. Films have been made of his short stories, novels and famous essay "Our Need for Consolation Is Insatiable". The Stig Dagerman Society in Sweden annually awards the Stig Dagerman Prize to individuals who, like Dagerman, through their work promote empathy and understanding. In 2008, the prize went to the French writer J. M. G. Le Clézio, who later was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.