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Peter Pohl, born (5 December 1940 in Hamburg, Germany) is a Swedish author and former director and screenwriter of short films. He has received prizes for
several of his books and films, as well as for his entire work.
From 1966 until his retirement in
2005, he was lecturer in Numerical
analysis at the Royal Institute of
Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.
Biography
Peter Pohl was born on 5 December 1940 in Hamburg, Germany. He lost his father during World War II and
moved to Sweden with his mother in 1945, where he started school in 1947. He went to the Södra Latin
gymnasium in Stockholm
until 1959. During this period, he
engaged in medium-distance running, with good results, but he quit running
when he was 19 years old. From his 15th until his 30th (1970), Pohl
was part of the schools summercamp at Värmdö and later at Blidö. This period of his life is described in
the books that form the Rainbow Series and are of particular
influence of his other books.
He studied mathematics and physics and was a research assistant at the Swedish Defence Research Establishment for
several years, starting in 1963.
Pohl soon returned to university in order to graduate at the Royal Institute of
Technology in Stockholm, where he received his doctorate in Numerical
analysis in 1975. He became a
lecturer in Numerical analysis and wrote several
textbooks on this subject.
Pohl started filming in 1980
and won various prizes for his work. His writing career started in
1983 and two years later he
published his first and most successful book, translated in English
as Johnny, My Friend. Since then,
he has published (As of 2008) 26 works of fiction.
He retired as a lecturer in 2005.
Director
Before he published his first book, Pohl created a number of
short films[1].
Most of them were published in the 1980s and many have won various
prices, from, among others, the Union Internationale du
Cinéma, Swedish short film and video, and Nordic short film[2].
Pohl has made a number of short films, mainly in the 1980s.
Filmography
-
This list is incomplete; you can
help by expanding it.
- Nyckeln (The key), 1981, 15 minutes. It has been
awarded several prices:
- Viktor (1st price in amateur category) from Svensk Smalfilm
och Video (now Sveriges Film- och Videoförbund, SFV),
1982.
- Silver medal and editing price (klippningspriset) at
Nordisk Smalfilm, 1982.
- 1st price in the category Fantasy and 5th price in al
categories, short film contest, Argentina, 1982.
- Du har ju mej! (But you have me!), 1982, 20 minutes.
Won the bronze prize and the actor prize at Svensk Smalfilm och
Video in 1982.
- Medan nålen vandrar, 1982, 18 minutes.
- Visiten (The visit), 1982, 12 minutes.
- Alla klockor stannar (All clocks stop), 1983, 27
minutes.
- Resan till havet (The journey to the sea), 1984, 23
minutes. The contents are similar to those in his book Havet inom
oss (the sea inside us).
- Bronze medal at Svensk Smalfilm och Video, 1986.
- Muntlig tentamen (Oral exam), 1984.
- Stipendiet (The scholarship), 1985, 20 minutes.
- Director prize and prize for best female actor, Sandy gala, Västerås,
1987.
- Silver medal and actor prize at Svensk Smalfilm och
Video, 1988.
- Ja, jag kommer! (Yes, I'm coming!), 1986, 16
minutes.
- Gunga flöjt.
- Bronze medal at Svensk Smalfilm och Video, 1989.
- Det blir bättre nästa gång (It will be better next
time), 1989, 20 minutes.
- Silver medal and actor prize at Svensk Smalfilm och
Video, 1991.
- Siver medal at Nordisk Smalfilm
- Gold medal and prize for best film at UNICA, European
short film contest in Switzerland, 1991.
- Änglar behövs dom? (Angels, are they needed?), 1990.
This film was made after his book Glittras Uppdrag (Glittras
assignment) [3]
Author
Pohl has published a total number of 35 books: 9 textbooks and
26 works of fiction. He is primarily known for his works of
fiction.
His fiction is mostly drama, but also includes two works of
poetry, a book with fairy tales and a "picture book without
pictures" that defies categorisation. In most of his books,
children and teenagers are the main characters. He considers this
to be the most important period of a life [4].
Typical themes are loneliness, betrayal, lies, a longing for
friendship, death. On his website, he writes that he does so
because it is reality for many adults, youths and kids, and it
would be a shame to be silent about that [5].
Of his drama, two books were translated into English: Johnny, my friend about a mysterious new
boy in the neighborhood, and I miss you, I miss you! about
the loss of a twin sister. In total, 13 of his books have been
translated into 13 languages, mostly in Norwegian, Danish and German, but
more recently also in languages such as Estonian
and Polish.
Among the books he published in the first four years of his
writer career are three of the autobiographical books that form the
rainbow series. Those are true and about his own life [6] Those
start with Regnbågen har bara åtta färger (The rainbow has only
eight colours). In this book, Pohl described his early
childhood, starting immediately after he moved to Sweden, until he
was eight years old [7].
The story takes place between 1945 and 1948. It is followed by
Medan regnbågen bleknar (While the rainbow is fading),
covering the period 1949 - 1952. Vilja växa (Want to grow
up) described the period 1952 - 1958. The fourth book, Vi kallar
honom Anna, he describes one year, particularly one summer,
where he, part of the summercamp organisation, observes how a
teenage boy is severely bullied. This book was published before
Medan regnbågen bleknar and Vilja växa, just
shortly after Regnbågen har bara åtta färger, and received
a lot of attention and prizes. The final book in the series is
Klara papper är ett måste, which starts in 1966. Additionally, the
book De Stora Penslarnas lek, which Pohl describes as a starting
point for his writing, contains fairy tales, based on the fairy
tales from the grandfather in Regnbågen har bara åtta
färger.
Other books, such as I miss you, I miss you! and
Sekten are based on true stories that came to him directly or
indirectly [8].
Some of his books were originally published as adult literature,
but later recategorised as books for youth [7].
Pohl does not consider himself himself an author of primarily youth
literature. However, some books were written for children. Examples
are Glittras uppdrag, a fairy tale about an angel that protects a
six year old boy, and Malins kung Gurra, written for a contest
organised by publisher Rabén & Sjögren.
Bibliography
Textbooks
- Linjära differensekvationer med konstanta
koefficienter; Liber, 1976
- Numeriska Metoder (with Gerd Eriksson and Germund
Dahlquist); THS, 1977
- 220 ± 30 Exempel i Numeriska Metoder (with Gerd
Eriksson); THS, 1978
- Introduktion till BASIC-programmering; THS, 1979
- Analytiska och Numeriska Metoder (with Eike
Petermann); KTH, 1984
- Elementära Numeriska Metoder; THS, 1991
- Problem och Exempel i Numeriska Metoder; THS, 1992;
Print On Demand 1997
- Grunderna i Numeriska Metoder; THS, 1995; NADA, KTH
1999
- Grundkurs i numeriska metoder; Liber, 2005.
Fiction
- Janne, min vän (Johnny, My Friend), 1985.
- Translations: Danish (Min bedste ven, 1987),
Norwegian (Janne min venn,
1988), German (Jan, mein Freund,
1990), Dutch
(Jan, mijn vriend, 1991), English (Johnny, My Friend, 1991, translated
by Laurie
Thompson), French (Jan, mon ami, 1995),
Italian
(Il mio amico Jan, 1996 and 2005), Estonian
(Janne, mu söber, 1997), Japanese (1997), Icelandic
(Janni vinur minn, 1997), Low German (Jan, mien Fründ,
2000).
- Prizes:
- Litteraturfrämjandets debutantpris (prize for first
appearance), 1985;
- Nils Holgerson-plaketten (Nils Holgersson prize),
1986;
- Honourary list, 11th edition of the Premio Europeo di
Letteratura Giovanile (European Prize for Youth
Literature), Pier Paolo Vergerio, Padova, Italy, 1987
- Deutscher
Jugendliteraturpreis (German youth literature prize),
1990.
- Kulturskylt, Stockholm Public Library,
November 1999
- Regnbågen har bara åtta färger[9]
(The rainbow has only eight colours), 1986
- Translations: German (Der Regenbogen hat nur acht
Farben, 1993), Dutch (De regenboog heeft maar acht
kleuren, 1995)
- Vi kallar honom Anna (We
call him Anna), 1987 [9].
- Translations: German (Nennen wir ihn Anna, 1981),
Danish (Vi kaldar ham Anna, 1989), Norwegian (Vi
kaller ham Anna, 1989), Dutch (We noemen hem Anna,
1993).
- Prizes:
- Eule des Monats (Owl of the Month), Bulletin Jugend
& Literatur (Bulletin Youth + Literature), Hardebek, Germany, 1991
- Nominated for the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, 1992
- Vlag en Wimpel, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1994
- Havet inom oss (The ocean within us), 1988.
This book has largely the same contents as the short film Resan
till havet.
- Alltid den där Anette! (Always that Anette!),
1988
- De Stora Penslarnas Lek (fairy tales)[9]
- Medan regnbågen bleknar [9]
(While the rainbow is fading), 1989.
- Translations: German (Während der Regenbogen
verblasst, 1994), Norwegian (Mens regnbuen blekner,
1991)
- Prizes:
- Heffaklumpen, children books prize, Expressen, 1989.
- Kan ingen hjálpa Anette? (Can nobody help
Anette?), 1990
- Malins kung Gurra (Malins king Gurra), 1991
- Translations: German (Ich bin Malin, 1992), Danish
(Du må gerne sova i min hånd, 1993)), Norwegian (Malin
og Kong Gurra, 1994), Estonian (Pärast viimast hoiatust,
1999)
- Man har ett snärj, 1991
- Glittras uppdrag (Glittrag assignment), 1992.
- Translations: German (Glittrag Auftrag, 1997)
- Jag saknar dig, jag saknar dig! (I
miss you, I miss you!), 1992
- Translations: German (Du fehlst mir, du fehlst mir!,
1994), Danish (Jeg savner dig, jeg savner dig, 1993),
Norwegian (Jeg savner deg, jeg savner deg, 1993), Dutch
(Ik mis je, ik mis je!, 1994), Finnish (Sinä ja minä ikuisesti,
1997), Icelandic (Ég sakna þin, 1998), English (I miss
you, I miss you!, 1999), Slovene (Pogrešam te, pogrešam
te, 1999)
- Prizes:
- En röd sten till Carina (A red stone to
Carina), 1993
- Vill dig (Want you), 1994. Poems.
- Vilja växa [9]
(Want to grow up), 1994.
- När alla ljuger (When all are lying), 1995.
- Translations: Danish (Når alle lyver, 2000)
- Minns det (Remember that), 1996. Poems.
- Men jag glömmer dig inte (But I won't forget
you), 1997.
- Translations: German (Aber ich vergesse dich nicht, 1998),
Norwegian (Men jeg glemmer dig ikke, 1998), Danish (Men
jeg glemmer deg aldri, 1998)
- Prizes:
- Nominated for Augustpriset, 1997.
- Fällt aus dem Rahmen, Fachzeitschrift für Kinder- und
Jugendmedien, April 1998.
- Intet bortom det yttersta, 1998.
- Translations: German (Unter den Blauen Sonne, 2002),
Norwegian (Tims historie, 1999).
- Prizes:
- Fällt aus dem Rahmen, October 2002
- Klara papper är ett måste [9],
1998
- Tillsammans kan vi förändra världen (Together we
can change the world), 1998. "Picture book without
pictures"
- Man kan inte säga allt, 1999.
- Translations: Norwegian (Man kan ikke sige alt, 2001),
Finnish (Valonarkaa, 2000)
- Jag är kvar hos er (I am still with you),
2000
- Translations: German (Ich werde immer bei euch sein, 2003),
Estonian (Ma olen ikka teiega, 2003)
- Tusen kolor, 2002.
- Translations: Norwegian (Tusind kugler, 2004), Polish: Tysiąc kulek, 2005
- Sekten (The sect), 2005.
- Nu heter jag Nirak (Now my name is Nirak),
2007.
- Anton, jag gillar dig! (Anton, I love you!),
2008. Not published yet.
Number of translations per
language
- (Swedish)
- 26, soon 27
- German
- 10; Danish: 9; Norwegian: 6; Dutch: 4; Estonian: 3; English, Finnish, Icelandic: 2; French, Italian, Low German, Slovenian, Polish: 1; Total: 13 books have
been translated into at least one language. In total, the books
have been translated to 13 different languages.
Sources and further
reading
- ^ Peter Pohl. "Peter Pohl filmer på
Filmverkstan". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/texter/Filmer/Filmverkst.html. Retrieved
2008-06-08.
- ^ a
b
Peter Pohl. "Utmärkelser". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Utmark.html. Retrieved
2008-06-08.
- ^
Peter Pohl. "Glittrag Uppdrag". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Glittra.html. Retrieved
2008-06-08.
- ^
Peter Pohl. "Svar på fragor -- 4". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/ansqu4.html#Val. Retrieved
2008-06-09.
- ^
Peter Pohl. "Svar på fragor -- 4". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/ansqu4.html#Tungt. Retrieved
2008-06-09.
- ^
Peter Pohl. "Peter Pohl svarar". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/texter/PPsvar.html. Retrieved
2008-06-09.
- ^ a
b
Peter Pohl. "Henrik, Micke...". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Trilogi.html. Retrieved
2008-06-09.
- ^
Peter Pohl. "Jag saknar dig!". http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Saknar.html. Retrieved
2008-06-09.
- ^ a
b
c
d
e
f
Part of the rainbow series
| Books by Peter Pohl |
| Johnny, My
Friend · Regnbågen
har bara åtta färger ·
Vi
kallar honom Anna · Havet inom oss · Alltid den där Anette!
· De Stora Penslarnas
Lek · Medan regnbågen
bleknar · Kan ingen
hjälpa Anette? ·
Malins kung Gurra ·
Man har ett snärj ·
Glittras uppdrag · I
miss you, I miss you! · En röd sten till Carina
· Vill dig · Vilja växa · När alla ljuger · Minns det · Men jag glömmer dig inte
· Intet bortom det
yttersta · Klara
papper är ett måste ·
Tillsammans kan vi förändra världen · Man kan inte säga allt
· Jag är kvar hos er
· Tusen kulor · Sekten · Nu heter jag Nirak · Anton, jag gillar
dig! |