He describes himself as a workaholic with sparse publishing. After years of solitary preparation, "Växla ringar med mörkret" was completed in just seven months – it required an extra effort to dig up the diamonds in the coal mine.
I have to be frugal with myself and the readers; it wouldn't benefit anyone if I released a poetry collection every year. I probably have 40-50 poetry collections just lying around, maybe I'll burn them one day, he says.
Poetry, according to Bruno K Öijer, is "the soul's guerrilla movement in every society".
Society, he writes in a poem, "is enclosed violence".
As a performer
After ten years of seclusion, he is now returning as a performer as well. Starting in his hometown of Linköping on October 9, he will make nine guerrilla appearances, and hopes for a Norrland tour in the spring. Bruno K Öijer is "the entire orchestra" as he puts it. He stands alone on stage with the microphone – just like when he started in 1973, but now on slightly larger and more elegant theaters than back then.
I remember early performances in Gothenburg, in pretty rundown venues where some in the audience shouted: "what the hell". Rats were running between the benches, but that was then.
He recites the poems by heart but only rehearses quietly to himself.
It becomes an expression. I can't stand on stage like a bloody schoolmaster.
Rhythmic hits
The tour will be a retrospective with some of the most rhythmic hits – including the 90s poem "En gång blommade trädet". That one is a given. But this time, he has also selected some poems from the 1980s.
I don't feel that they belong to the past in any way; I live in my treasure trove constantly. But some poems are only written for the book page.
TT: Have you discovered anything new in your poetry?
No, not really, I'm the same old guy from start to finish. It's a constant mix of darkness and light.
From "Växla ringar med mörkret", the title poem is self-written, as is the concluding love poem.
There are far too few love poems written in this country.
Name: Bruno Keats Öijer. (Until 1999, his middle name was Kenneth)
Born: 1951 in Linköping.
Lives: In Stockholm.
Family: Married to artist Maya Eizin Öijer.
Background: Debuted in 1973 with "Sång för anarkismen". In his continuously published, but sparse production, notable works include the trilogy "Medan giftet verkar" (1990), "Det förlorade ordet" (1995), and "Dimman av allt" (2001), as well as "Svart som silver" from 2008.
