Willy Kyrklund was born in 1921 in Helsinki, but has lived in Sweden since the 40s. He's studied mandarin, persian, russian and mathematics.
Since young Willy lacked belief in communication. Defiance grew with a distrust in the codes of society - to the point where he saw art as the only way out.
Today Willy Kyrklund is regarded as a true master of his style. His prose is laconic and precise, ironic and humble, witty and sad. Though his later work is increasingly dry and philosophic, he prefers the fable and the pastische to draw up his ideas.
Kyrklund is a sceptic who has lost his interest in humans to a sad fascination with the human condition. A zooming out, if you will, that works well to include universal issues such as faith, reason and helplessness.
Willy, still alive and kicking (albeit tenderly as to not hurt himself), will soon have more books written about him than by him. What little he has produced are stories so short they have been called "pamphlets" by his critics. When asked why his writings are so compact, he said he thinks through everything beforehand, for he writes with a pencil and it is a drag to erase.
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"Whoever says anything ever about anyone has said something else."
"The artist's role is to instill safety among the public, by following so many rules that one clearly sees which ones he's breaking."
"No decent human being becomes an author. You'll be one only if there's a crack you cannot deal with. (---) That crack will eventually open up and swallow you."
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"Vem som än yttrar sig någonsin om någonting har sagt någonting annat."
"Konstnärens uppgift är att skapa trygghet hos publiken genom att följa så många konventioner att man tydligt ser vilka han bryter emot."
"Ingen vettig människa blir författare. Det blir man bara om det finns en spricka som man inte kan komma tillrätta med. (---) Den där sprickan öppnar sig förr eller senare och slukar en."
