Peo Rask, who runs the publishing house Black Island Books in Luleå, published Verner Boström's collected poems in 2006. "A sensation," wrote Lars Mikael Raattamaa on Aftonbladet's culture page. He described Boström's dense, repetitive lines, often around the theme of time, as a beautiful gift and "a constant search for modernity."
Boström made his debut when he was 69. Between 1965 and 1972 he had an explosion of poetry printed: 23 poetry collections, says Peo Rask, who found the booklets in libraries and with people who had bought them from the poet at their doorstep.
Even if people bought it, they might not read it. Almost everyone thought it was too difficult.
Fire inside
The poet's life came to a dramatic end in 1982 when his house by Lake Haukijärvi burned to the ground. During research for his biography, Peo Rask discovered that bone fragments found in the burned-out house's basement were still stored in an archive box at a laboratory in Stockholm, where they had been sent for analysis.
Boström had no relatives to take them back for burial - it will instead take place now. On July 1, Verner Boström will be taken to his final resting place in Lappträsk Church. The Boström siblings' family grave is also located there.
I took the train down to Stockholm and picked up the remains. I traveled with Verner; he was allowed to be with me in my living room. Then we went on to the funeral home in Haparanda, says Peo Rask.
No hermit
“Verner Boström, Haukijärvi, 950 85 Lappträsk” is the title of the recent biography, and the title is simply Boström's address. The ambition has been to present a different picture of the poet than the conventional one that claims he was a hermit.
It is someone who consciously withdraws from society. Verner Boström lived in isolation, but that does not mean he was a hermit. You cannot shop in Lappträsk and be a hermit at the same time.
But he does not have a simple explanation for Verner Boström's modernist poetry.
No. But his lyricism is unparalleled.
Lived: 1896 to 1982. Brother of Helga Boström, who lived for 35 years at Furunäset Mental Hospital, where she wrote the autobiographical book "Captured"
With the exception of his military service in Boden, Verner Boström lived his entire life by Lake Haukijärvi, outside Lappträsk. He was a small farmer and fisherman as well as a poet. He went to Lappträsk station every day to buy the newspaper, probably Svenska Dagbladet, which he read and then pasted on the walls at home, writes NSD.
Buried on July 1, 2026 in Lappträsk Church. Haparanda Municipality did not want to pay for the funeral, but the Swedish Inheritance Fund is contributing SEK 8,000, according to Peo Rask.
