Image copyright Reuters Image caption Transtroemer was also a trained psychologist

Swedish poet Tomas Transtroemer, who was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for Literature, has died at the age of 83.

His publisher, Bonniers, said the writer died in Stockholm on Thursday after a short illness.

A trained psychologist, Transtroemer suffered a stroke in 1990 that affected his ability to talk.

His poems - described by Publishers Weekly as "mystical, versatile and sad" - have been translated into more than 50 languages.

Transtroemer was tipped as a potential Nobel prize winner for many years before he became the 108th recipient of the prestigious award in 2011.

The Royal Swedish Academy named him the recipient "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality".

He was the first Swede to receive the prize since authors Eyvind Johnson and Harry Martinson shared it in 1974.

Memorial service

Born in April 1931 in Stockholm, Transtroemer graduated in psychology in 1956 and later worked in an institution for juvenile offenders.

His first collection of poetry, Seventeen Poems, was published when he was 23.

In 1966 he received the Bellman prize for Swedish poetry, one of many accolades he received over his long career.

In 2003 one of his poems was read at the memorial service of Anna Lindh, Sweden's murdered foreign minister.

Transtroemer is survived by his wife Monika and their two daughters, Emma and Paula.