Werner Aspenstrom; Swedish Poet Who Quit Nobel Group

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Swedish poet Werner Aspenstrom, who resigned from the academy that chooses the Nobel literature prizewinner amid a controversy over Salman Rushdie, has died at 78, a Swedish news agency reported Saturday. TT news agency gave no details of the death, including time or cause.

In 1989, Aspenstrom was one of three members to resign from the Swedish Academy, whose members are appointed for life.

His two colleagues said they quit in protest of the academy’s weak response to the death order that Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued against Rushdie. The academy’s statement did not refer specifically to Rushdie and only condemned censorship in general. Aspenstrom did not reveal his reasons for resigning but indicated support for a stronger statement on the Rushdie case.

As a poet, Aspenstrom first gained a wide public following with his third book, 1949’s “Snolegend” (“Snow Legend”). His last book of poems was “Varelser” (“Persons”) in 1989.