The Blackbird

In November 2000, Torgny Lilja launched his portfolio site Blackbird's Nest. The purpose was to present his poetry, translation and literary research to a bigger audience. When the site got a major upgrade in 2008, Lilja was studying web journalism in California, and the language on Blackbird's Nest naturally changed to English.

Lilja is currently working on these book projects:

Writing and Intertextuality: A Study in the Poetry by Johannes Edfelt
Dissertation on the Swedish poet Johannes Edfelt (1904–97).
Dr Dracula & Mr Harker
A brand new collection of poems that will be released in 2012.

Newly released book projects:

Anna Akhmatova
Swedish rendering of the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova (1889–1966).
Skuggsång (Shade Song)
A prolonged edition of Lilja's poetry 1980–2010 supplemented with youth poems.

Background

Torgny Rolf Lilja was born in 1961 in Stockholm, Sweden, where he has been residing more or less permanently since 1988. During his teens, he lived in a suburban area outside Stockholm, which has deeply influenced some of his poetry. In addition to Swedish and English, Lilja understands Russian, German, French and Latin.

Currently, Lilja is a candidate for the doctorate at Stockholm Univerity. Since 1988, he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literary Theory, Russian, and Linguistics from Stockholm University. He also holds diplomas in Web Journalism from Santa Barbara City College in California (2009), PR & Communications from Pace University in New York (2002) and Interactive Media, Multimedia and Web Page Production from ETC Akademin in Stockholm (1998).

Since 2006, Lilja has been responsible for translations and web content at Järva Interpreting & Translating Agency in Sweden. Before that, he worked short periods at the Communications Departments at IOGT-NTO (the largest Swedish organization in the field of temperance) and the Swedish Institute. He also has been an intern at the Section for Culture and Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Sweden in New York.

As a freelancer from 1992 to 1994, Lilja was a graphic designer for the Swedish Tourist Association, the Nordic Council of Ministers, book publisher Rabén & Sjögren, and others. From 1989 to 1994, he was responsible for desktop publishing at the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

Some people say that Lilja got his nickname "Blackbird," when he was working at the Swedish national authority for signals intelligence from 1988 to 1989. For a full overview of his experience and education, feel free to go to Lilja's résumé page.

Footnote: "Blackbird's Nest," "News From the Nest" and the Blackbird logo are trademarks. This site is fully compatible with Firefox on Mac or PC and Internet Explorer on Mac.

Résumé (70Kb)

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