Nobel Winner Inspired by Essex County

The latest Nobel laureate for literature may live in Sweden, but he found inspiration right here in Essex County. You can hear poet Tomas Tranströmer tell how visiting East Orange, and looking toward New York City, spurred him to write. He tells a crowd about visiting East Orange in this video, and the mere mention of the state sparked a titter of laughter. (Might he have meant West Orange, where the view from Eagle Rock would have afforded a vista from a higher altitude? No matter, the poem begins with a description of his view from somewhere just West of the city in New Jersey.