Johannes Anyuru

Johannes Anyuru (born 23 March 1979) is a Swedish poet and author.

Johannes Anyuru
Johannes Anyuru in 2010.
Born	(1979-03-23) 23 March 1979 (age 46) Borås, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Period	2003–
Notable work	Städerna inuti Hall

Biography

Anyuru was born in Borås.^[1] His father is from Uganda and his mother is Swedish.^[2]

He debuted in 2003 with Det är bara gudarna som är nya (Only the Gods Are New), a poetry collection. In this collection of poems Anyuru used Homer's epic Iliad as a background and inspiration for the portrayal of immigrant neighborhoods. A place that is often mentioned in his poetry is the area around Mörners road in Växjö, where Anyuru lived as a child.^[3] Reviews of this book linked his style to both older contemporary Swedish poets as Göran Sonnevi or Tomas Tranströmer, and hip hop band The Latin Kings.^[4] Anyurus second poetry collection, Omega, is a much more downbeat since it deals with the loss of a close friend to cancer.^[5] Anyurus third collection, Städerna inuti Hall (The Cities Inside Hall)^[6] was published in 2009 and describes sad socio-political landscape.

His fourth book Skulle jag dö under andra himlar (If I Were to Die Under Other Skies)^[7] is not a poetry book, but prose.

He has also worked with spoken word as part of the group Broken Word and a touring performance with the National Swedish Touring Theatre called Abstrakt rap. Both projects has been released as CD's.^[8]

In December 2009 he debuted with his first play Förvaret (The Detention Centre), at the Gothenburg City Theatre, co-written with Aleksander Motturi.^[9]

During the summer of 2010, he was one of several hosts of the radio program Sommar.^[10]

In 2025 he was accused for making anti-semitic statements with repsect to the onging Israel-Gaza war.^[11]

Bibliography

• Det är bara gudarna som är nya (poetry collection, 2003)
• Omega (poetry collection, 2005)
• Städerna inuti Hall (poetry collection, 2009)
• Skulle jag dö under andra himlar (novel, 2010)
• En storm kom från paradiset (novel, 2012)
• A Storm Blew in from Paradise (novel, 2015; translated into English by Rachel Willson-Broyles, 2019)
• De kommer att drunkna i sina mödrars tårar (novel, 2017)
• They Will Drown in their Mothers' Tears (novel, 2017; translated into English by Saskia Vogel, 2019)

Honours

• Nöjesguiden Magazine award for best read 2003
• Guldprinsen prize 2003
• Kallebergers scholarship 2005
• Spingo-scholarship 2005
• Augustpriset nominee 2012, winner 2017