Karl Werner Aspenström (13 November 1918 – 25 January 1997) was a Swedish poet.
Born at Norrbärke, he was a member of the Swedish Academy, where he held Seat 12 from 1981 to 1997.
Aspenström claimed that his motivation for writing was "writing for his cat", but apparently hinted that he meant someone else with that.
In 1989, together with Lars Gyllensten and Kerstin Ekman, he resigned from the Swedish Academy because of the academy’s response to the Salman Rushdie controversy, which was perceived as weak. He however claimed that this was not the sole reason for his resignation, but rather one amongst several other.
He was a friend of Stig Dagerman.
Works
Förberedelse (1943)
Oändligt är vårt äventyr (1945)
Snölegend (1949)
Varelser (1989)
Öva Sitt Eget (2004) (posthumous, co-written with Signe Lund-Aspenström)