Åke Hodell

Who was Åke Hodell?

Åke Hodell was a Swedish fighter pilot, poet, author, text-sound composer, and artist. Son of author Björn Hodell and brother of actor Ulla Hodell.

Hodell was trained as a fighter pilot, but after a crash during practice July 17, 1941, he had to spend the next few years in hospital. This became a turning point and he became a dedicated antimilitarist. Lying in hospital he got to know author Gunnar Ekelöf and Hodell made his debut with Flyende Pilot in 1953. That same spring Hodell and Ekelöf travel to Rome. In his books, Hodell experiments with what he calls elektronismer, while he on stage and in radio in the early 60's works with text-sound composition. During this period he is also active at Pistolteatern in Stockholm. He also created publisher Kerberos.

One of his visual artworks, the piece "220 Volt Buddha", was use as the album cover of Swedish heavy metal band At the Gates' 1993 album With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness.