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{{short description|Swedish author, director and screenwriter}}
{{Distinguish|Petr Pohl}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = Peter Pohl
| image = Peter Pohl, 2007.jpg
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1940|12|5|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Hamburg]], Germany
| nationality = [[Sweden|Swedish]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Novelist
| genre = {{hlist|Literature|[[young adult fiction]]|children's literature}}
| movement =
| notableworks =
| influences =
| website = {{URL|http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/ppforf.html}}
| children =
}}

'''Peter Pohl''' (born 5 December 1940) is a [[Sweden|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 [[KTH 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 summer camp at [[Värmdö (island)|Värmdö]] and later at [[Blidö]].
This period of his life is described in the books that form the [[Rainbow Series (Peter Pohl)|Rainbow Series]] and are of particular influence of his other books.

He studied mathematics and [[physics]] and was a [[research assistant]] at the [[Swedish National Defence Research Institute]] for several years, starting in 1963.
Pohl soon returned to university in order to graduate at [[KTH Royal Institute of Technology]] in Stockholm, where he received his [[Doctor (title)|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 ==
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}

Before he published his first book, Pohl created a number of short films.<ref name="Filmverkst">{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/texter/Filmer/Filmverkst.html|title=Peter Pohl filmer på Filmverkstan|access-date=8 June 2008|author=Peter Pohl}}</ref>
Most of them were published in the 1980s and many have won various prizes, from, among others, the [[Union Internationale du Cinéma]], Swedish short film and video, and Nordic short film.<ref name="utmark">{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Utmark.html|title=Utmärkelser|access-date=8 June 2008|author=Peter Pohl}}</ref>

Pohl has made a number of short films, mainly in the 1980s.

=== Filmography ===
{{Expand list|date=August 2008}}

* ''Nyckeln'' (The key), 1981, 15 minutes. It has been awarded several prizes:
**Viktor (1st prize in amateur category) from ''Svensk Smalfilm och Video'' (now [[Sveriges Film- och Videoförbund]], SFV), 1982.
**Silver medal and editing prize (''klippningspriset'') at Nordisk Smalfilm, 1982.
**1st prize in the category Fantasy and 5th prize in all 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.
**Bronze medal at ''Svensk Smalfilm och Video'', 1984.
**Bronze medal at [[Union Internationale du Cinéma]] (UNICA), European short film contest in the [[German Democratic Republic]], 1984.<ref name="utmark" />
* ''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.
** Silver 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)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Glittra.html|title=Glittrag Uppdrag|access-date=8 June 2008|author=Peter Pohl}}</ref>

== 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/ansqu4.html#Val|title=Svar på fragor – 4|author=Peter Pohl|access-date=9 June 2008}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/ansqu4.html#Tungt|title=Svar på fragor – 4|author=Peter Pohl|access-date=9 June 2008}}</ref>

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 language|Norwegian]], [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[German language|German]], but more recently also in languages such as [[Estonian language|Estonian]] and [[Polish language|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<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/texter/PPsvar.html|title=Peter Pohl svarar|author=Peter Pohl|access-date=9 June 2008}}</ref>
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.<ref name="rainbow">{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Trilogi.html|title=Henrik, Micke...|author=Peter Pohl|access-date=9 June 2008}}</ref>
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!]] (co-written with [[Kinna Gieth]]) and [[Sekten]] are based on true stories that came to him directly or indirectly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Saknar.html|title=Jag saknar dig!|author=Peter Pohl|access-date=9 June 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423063330/http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/Saknar.html|archive-date=23 April 2008}}</ref>

Some of his books were originally published as adult literature, but later recategorised as books for youth.<ref name="rainbow" />
Pohl does not consider 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 language|Danish]] (''Min bedste ven'', 1987), [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] (''Janne min venn'', 1988), [[German language|German]] (''Jan, mein Freund'', 1990), [[Dutch language|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 language|Estonian]] (''Janne, mu söber'', 1997), Japanese (1997), [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] (''Janni vinur minn'', 1997), [[Low German]] (''Jan, mien Fründ'', 2000).
** Prizes:
*** [[Litteraturfrämjandet]]s ''debutantpris'' (prize for first appearance), 1985;
*** [[Nils Holgersson Plaque]] 1986;
*** Honorary list, 11th edition of the [[Premio Europeo di Letteratura Giovanile]] (''European Prize for Youth Literature''), [[Pier Paolo Vergerio]], [[Padua|Padova]], Italy, 1987
*** [[Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis]] (''German youth literature prize''), 1990.
*** [[Kulturskylt]], [[Stockholm Public Library]], November 1999
* ''[[Regnbågen har bara åtta färger]]''<ref name="rainbows">Part of the ''Rainbow Series''</ref> (''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.<ref name="rainbows" />
** 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)<ref name="rainbows" />
* ''[[Medan regnbågen bleknar]]''<ref name="rainbows" /> (''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, with [[Kinna Gieth]]
** 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 language|Finnish]] (Sinä ja minä ikuisesti, 1997), Icelandic (''Ég sakna þin'', 1998), English (''I miss you, I miss you!'', 1999), [[Slovene language|Slovene]] (''Pogrešam te, pogrešam te'', 1999)
** Prizes:
*** [[Augustpriset]] (''August prize''), ''Bokförläggarföreningen'', 1992
*** [[Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis]], Germany, 1995
* ''[[En röd sten till Carina]]'' (''A red stone to Carina''), 1993
* ''[[Vill dig]]'' (''Want you''), 1994. Poems.
* ''[[Vilja växa]]''<ref name="rainbows" /> (''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 der blauen Sonne'', 2002), Norwegian (''Tims historie'', 1999).
** Prizes:
*** Fällt aus dem Rahmen, October 2002
* ''[[Klara papper är ett måste]]'',<ref name="rainbows" /> 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 kulor]]'', 2002.
** Translations: Norwegian (''Tusind kugler'', 2004), {{langx|pl|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 language|Swedish]]): 26, soon 27
; {{langx|de|link=no|10}}; {{langx|da|9}}; {{langx|no|6}}; {{langx|nl|4}}; {{langx|et|3}}; English, [[Finnish language|Finnish]], {{langx|is|2}}; French, Italian, [[Low German]], [[Slovenian language|Slovenian]], {{langx|pl|1}}; Total: 13 books have been translated into at least one language. In total, the books have been translated to 13 different languages.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/ Website Peter Pohl] ([[Swedish language|Swedish]])
* [http://www.nada.kth.se/~pohl/bibliografi.html Full bibliography]
* [http://www.immi.se/kultur/authors/tyskar/pohl.htm Partial list of translations]

{{Peter Pohl}}
{{August Prize Best Children}}
{{Astrid Lindgren Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pohl, Peter}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:German emigrants to Sweden]]
[[Category:Swedish male writers]]
[[Category:Swedish-language writers]]
[[Category:Swedish children's writers]]
[[Category:Swedish writers of young adult literature]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology]]
[[Category:August Prize winners]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Nils Holgersson Plaque]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Astrid Lindgren Prize]]