Selected Backlist FICTION (5)

Home , Aschehoug Prize, Blood Bitch, Brage Prize, Carl Frode Tiller, Dag Solstad, Edvard Hoem

Selected backlist FICTION (5)

CRIME (29)

NON-FICTION (35) Oslo Literary Agency is Norway’s largest literary agency, representing authors in the genres of literary fiction, crime and commercial fiction, children’s and YA books and non-fiction. OKTOBER (49)

Oslo Literary Agency was established in 2016, transforming from the in-house Aschehoug Agency to an agency representing authors from a wide range of publishers.

In addition, Oslo Literary Agency carries full representation of publisher of literary fiction, Forlaget Oktober.

Oslo Literary Agency, Sehesteds gate 3, P. O. Box 363 Sentrum, N-0102 Oslo, Norway osloliteraryagency.no FICTION

Maja Lunde (6 - 7) Jostein Gaarder (8 - 9) Simon Stranger (10 - 11) Helga Flatland (12- 13) Carl Frode Tiller (14 - 15) Ketil Bjørnstad (16) Bjarte Breiteig (17) Maria Kjos Fonn (18) Gøhril Gabrielsen (19) Gaute Heivoll (20) Ida Hegazi Høyer (21) Monica Isakstuen (22) Jan Kjærstad (23) Roskva Koritzinsky (24) Thure Erik Lund (25) Lars Petter Sveen (26) Demian Vitanza (27)

5 MAJA LUNDE Praise for The History of Bees: Author of the international bestseller History of Bees, translated into 36 languages “Quite simply the most visionary Norwegian novel I have read since the first instalment of Knausgård’s My Struggle”

– Expressen, Sweden

“The History of Bees is complex and extraordinarily well-written, and in addition as exciting as a psychological thriller”

– Svenska Dagbladet

“A first-time novelist who is brave enough to spread out a great, epic canvas and in addition brings up a provocative and current topic, is not something you see every day”

– Aftenposten ASCHEHOUG

Praise for Blue:

“A new bestseller is born (…) Solid and impressive. Her first novel conquered the world.

MAJA LUNDE (b. 1975) is the most quel Blue was launched in the fall 2017, With this book, Maja Lunde has done it again” sucessful Norwegian author of her gen- as part of the authors planned Climate eration. Her books are so far translated Quartet to equal acclaim. Book 3 Prze- – Dagens Næringsliv into 36 languages. walskis Horse will be published in the fall of 2019. Lunde’s debut novel The History of Bees (2015) was an instant hit and sold to Lunde has written several books for “Maja Lunde’s new novel is great news, both for the climate cause and for literature” several territories before Norwegian children and young adults. The chil- publication. It won The Norwegian dren’s Christmas book The Snow Sister – Dagbladet Bookseller’s Prize as well as multiple in- (2018) illustrated by Lisa Aisato, was an ternational awards. It was the best sell- record-breaking success, selling 250 ing book in Germany in 2017 and has so 000 copies in Norway in its first two far spent 2,5 consecutive years on the months and translation rights sold to official German bestseller list. The se- 25 Languages.

6 Photo: Oda Berby 7 JOSTEIN GAARDER JUST RIGHT Author of Sophie's World, the most widely read A Brief Story Norwegian novel of all time of Almost Everything

Akkurat passe Novel, 136 pages Aschehoug 2018 Sold to 14 languages

n his first day at the University in Oslo, Albert notices a Ogirl, Eirin, in front of the coffee machine. They have never

ASCHEHOUG met before. Still, they both startle as they see the other. 37 years later, in April 2009, Eirin is in Melbourne at a Freshwater biology conference, and Albert is alone when he receives some truly terrible news from Marianne. Can he go on living with what he SOPHIE'S WORLD now knows? In 1991, when To date Sophie’s World has been JOSTEIN GAARDER translated into 65 languages and has (b. 1952) wrote Sop- sold over 50 million copies. Jostein Praise for Just Right: hie’s World he believed Gaarder’s other works, both his chil- that a novel on the dren’s books and adult novels such “The big questions are answered just right in Jostein history of philosophy as The Solitaire Mystery, Through a Gaarders new book. (…) A book that enhances the would appeal only to a Glass, Darkly, Vita Brevis , The Ring- reader’s urge to live by reminding us that we specialist readership. master’s Daughter, The Orange Girl, will all die” In 1995 the book was Anna. A Fable About The Earth’s Cli- – Aftenposten the most sold novel in mate And Enviroment, and The Puppe- the world. teer, have proved hugely popular and been published around the world. “A fine composition and an effective narrative drive. (…) Jostein Gaarder takes his reader through an exciting story” – Dagsavisen

8 Photo: Kimm Saatvedt 9 SIMON STRANGER KEEP SAYING THEIR NAMES The Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize 2018 Sold to 20 languages “According to Jewish tradition ev- would have been an entirely differ- eryone dies twice. The first time is ent one had Norway not been in- when the heart stops vaded in 1940. beating, and the syn- What turns the apses in the brain shut bashful shoemaker’s down, like a city during son Henry Rinnan from a blackout. The second Trøndelag into one of time is when the dead the most hated criminals person’s name is ut- in Norwegian history; tered, read or thought a double agent killing of for the last time, after Norwegians for the Na- fifty or hundred or four zis? And why would hundred years. Only a Jewish family want then, is the person real- to move into Rinnan’s ly gone, erased from life headquarters shortly after the war, in the house

on Earth.” ASCHEHOUG that for many became the very A chilling and gripping symbol of the atrocities committed double portrait of a young man who during the German occupation? became a torturist and a family that ASCHEHOUG Leksikon om lys og mørke Novel, 400 pages Sold to 20 languages Aschehoug 2018

“Riveting and beautiful (...) This book deserves to be read by very many” – Bok 365, 6 out of 6 stars

“A compulsive twist on familiar stories from WW2. Simon Stranger has been inspired by this to write the best novel about the arrest of Norwegian Jews since Steinar Løding’s Erindringens tre (eng: The Tree of Memory)” – Dagbladet, 6 out of 6 stars

“Stranger is making a bold move when choosing to write an entire novel about themes every well-read person knows very well. When Keep Saying Their Names is still such a Simon Stranger (b. 1976) made his debut in 2003, and has since written ten boks for children, young adults and adults. His latest children’s book successful project, the sole reason is the author’s literary talent" Kokotopia (2018) became an instant bestseller in Norway. Keep Saying – VG, 5 out of 6 stars Their Names is his first novel published by Aschehoug Forlag. Photo: André Løyning

10 11 Praise for A Modern Family:

HELGA FLATLAND “With this book, Flatland demonstrates, once again, her impressing skills in describing the modern human being – or rather, a modern family. (…) Cements her position as The Norwegian Bookseller Prize 2017 one of our most important, younger authors” – Dagbladet, 6 out of 6 stars A MODERN FAMILY

En moderne familie “There is a hint of Ingmar Bergman in this portrayal of a completely normal family, it Novel, 240 pages delves deep and wrenches your heart” Aschehoug 2017 – Adresseavisen, 6 out of 6 stars Foreign rights: Albanian, Bulgarian, Danish, German, Italian, Polish, Swedish, World English Once again, Helga Flatland proves that she is an unusually wise and sharp observer of “We’re leaving each other” people, of how we act, and interact, of our traumas and coping mechanisms. Her prose A quiet earthquake occurs as siblings Liv, Ellen and Håkon, along is crystal clear and unpretentious, spiced up with drips of humor” with their partners and children, are gathered around the dinner – Dagsavisen table somewhere on the outskirts of Rome to celebrate Dad and

Granddad Håkon’s 70th birthday . ASCHEHOUG Shock and disbelief follow, as the three grown children tries to cope with their parent’s decision. Not only does it affect “Buckle up and enjoy this novel – a roller coaster of a read” their relationship as siblings, it echoes through the homes they – Bok365.no have built for themselves, as well as forcing them to them reconstruct their shared narrative about their upbringing and family ASCHEHOUG history. “A Modern Family is an important novel, adressing the challenges of interaction with the Helga Flatland masterfully conducts this story, voiced ones close to you in a way that every reader can relate to” in turn by Liv, Ellen and Håkon, with rare psychological insight, - NRK humor and an almost filmatic narrative drive. A Modern Family is a novel that will make you look at the people closest to you just a little more thoroughly. STAY IF YOU CAN, LEAVE IF YOU MUST – TRILOGY

Helga Flatland (b. 1984) is already one of Norway’s most awarded and widely read authors. Her debut novel Stay If You Can. Leave If You Must (2010) received excellent reviews and established her as one of the foremost up- and-coming, young Norwegian authors. She consolidated her position with Everyone Wants to Go Home. No One Wants to Go Back (2011) and There Is No Whole (2013). She had a massive breakthrough with a broader audience “[Helga Flatland] manages to write about an ordinary and secure childhood in Norway with A Modern Family (2017). Within weeks of publication the novel had without excluding the big, wide world, and does this in an original way (…) Her prose sold 20,000 copies. is sober, often lyrical” -Dagbladet Photo: Niklas Lello 12 13 CARL FRODE TILLER BEGINNINGS Brage Prize, Critics' Prize, Sold to 20 languages “Life can only be understood backwards; but Highly anticipated is the new novel from Nominated to Nordic Literature Prize it must be lived forwards”, Søren Kierkeg- the author of the Encirclement-trilogy, by aard wrote. Beginnings is the story of one many regarded as one of the most important man’s life, told from end to Norwegian works of literature start, from suicide to child- in the 2000’s. hood. To better cast light on Carl Frode Tiller’s the ever recurring question of evocative prose, combined why things turned out just the with his rare insight into way they did? human minds, constitutes this Terje is a father and a gripping and extraordinary husbond, a son and a broth- novel about choice, freedom er and an environmentalist. and determinism. Pained by his shortcomings when it comes to interacting to the ones closest to him and wrestling with the notion that his activism and efforts on a local scale just might be useless in the face of a global catastrophe. ASCHEHOUG

Begynnelser Novel, 343 pages Foreign rights sold:

ASCHEHOUG Aschehoug 2017 Danish, German, Polish

THE ENCIRCLING TRILOGY

One of his generation’s most important nov- Slope was named among the 25 most im- elists, Carl Frode Tiller (b. 1970) is admired portant Norwegian novels from the last 25 for his instantly recognizable, furious prose years in a prestigious contest in the daily and his ability to create vivid, complex Dagbladet. In 2018, LA Review of Books characters. Tiller succeeds in portraying characterized his latest US publication En- these tragic characters in a way that arous- circling 2 as "An incomparable intellectual “Every new book by Carl Frode Tiller is better imagined and es the deepest sympathy in the reader. escapade". better written than the previous. With the Encircling books, Carl Frode Tiller is on his way towards something really big” In 2005 he was named one of the 10 best In addition to his novels, Tiller has written — Dagens Næringsliv Norwegian writers under 35. In 2006, The several plays, short stories and short prose. 15 14 Photo: Therese Alice Sanne KETIL BJØRNSTAD BJARTE BREITEIG More than 150 000 books sold in Norway “A masterpiece of a novel” – Fædrelandvennen

FIVE YEARS AS A FATHER

Mine fem år som far Novel, 303 pages Aschehoug 2014 Foreign rights: Czech, German

artin has two toddler sons and is married to the beau- “Truly an adventrous literary journey, well written, full of charm and warmth” Mtiful and ambitious Gina. He is an involved father, sen- – VG sitive and thoughtful, and he does more than his fair share at home. He also looks after his down-and-out ex-girlfriend “Bjørnstad‘s gigantic work about our world, with his own life as a starting point, Lillian and her daughter Selma. ASCHEHOUG proves itself ever stronger” One afternoon, the police pay him a visit. Selma may have been assaulted, and Martin is a suspect. Slowly – Dagbladet but surely, a life quite unlike what it seemed on the surface is revealed.

ASCHEHOUG With tenderness and dark humour, Breiteig inves- THE WORLD I USED TO KNOW tigates terrifying cracks in what seemed perfectly safe and ordinary. It paints a nuanced portrait of a man full of love, Verden som var min but also darkness. Aschehoug 2015 - 2019 Foreign rights: German “A stellar first novel from an already celebrated s one of Norways most productive and beloved au- short story writer” Athors, Ketil Bjørnstad has enjoyed tremendous success with each published volume of the series of six novels The – Dagsavisen World I Used To Know, each book covering a decade from the Sixties onward. Through the six volumed series, Bjørn- “Manages to say something genuine, perhaps

stad writes his own story juxtaposed to the histories and Lindseth Ingeborg Photo: even previously unsaid, about our time” history of the various decades of his life. – Dagens Næringsliv

Ketil Bjørnstad (b. 1952) is a musician, composer and writer. Versatile and prolific, he has published more than 30 books Bjarte Breiteig (b. 1974) made his debut with the short sto- – poetry, novels and factual accounts of the lives of the paint- ry collection Fantomsmerter (1998) which received glowing ers Oda Krohg and Edvard Munch, the author Hans Jæger, reviews and immediately established Breiteig as one of our the musician Ole Bull and the film artist Liv Ullmann. His strongest literary voices. books have been published in several languages. Photo: Trine Hisdal Trine Photo: 16 17 MARIA KJOS FONN GØHRIL GABRIELSEN

“Many have written well about the brutality of adolescence but few have done so “Not often does one read an author whose language is so stylistically conscious better than Maria Kjos Fonn. (…) an unusually talented storyteller” and whose prose so through-and-through original” – VG — From the jury statement of the 2016 Amalie Skram Prize KINDERWHORE ARRIVAL All alone, surrounded by endless snow Kinderwhore and the petulant forces of nature, she is Novel, 240 pages eagerly awaiting her lover to come join her. Ascehoug 2018 Ankomst Novel, 170 pages As the weeks pass, and her Foreign rights: Danish, lover lingers, the remoteness she has Aschehoug 2017 German, Serbian sought starts to feel less like a refuge Foreign rights: British English, and more like a threat. With plenty of German time to think, she starts to imagine and harlotte’s mother is always reinvent the details of the tragedy she Cat home, yet hardly ever t one of the northernmost out- learns took place in the cabin generati- there. Most of the time she is Aposts of Norway, a scientist arrives ons ago. The rational thinker is drawn ASCHEHOUG asleep, heavily medicated in to spend the winter in a deserted, old towards the irrational, her loneliness order to remain so. When fisherman’s cabin, working on a research gives way for a disturbing presence, project on birds and climate change. she is not asleep, she brings something dark and unknown, moving Her toddler daughter she has outside or inside herself. home new dads for Char- left with her ex-husband in the south. lotte. One of them shows ASCHEHOUG her a glimpse of something else, something better. But too soon, he is replaced by yet another dad. When Charlotte is 12 something happens, something she cannot possibly take in or process. She "Creeping suspense wrapped in elegant prose (…) starts making use of her mother’s pills, happy to learn an intense thriller from the wilderness" that there are ways of shutting off your feelings. She es- tablishes a divide between her body and mind, allowing — Dagsavisen her to take on different sexual roles, like the sedated, passive Doll or the proactive Machine. "Gøhril Gabrielsen writes with presicion and Raw, powerful and important on sexuality, insight and about losing oneself (…) A novel that assault and survival. This novel was nominated to The stand out this fall" Norwegian Book Award and several other prizes. — Dag og Tid

Maria Kjos Fonn (b. 1990) made her debut with the criticaly acclaimed short story collection I Have Never Told Anyone About This in 2014. She was nominated to the Tarjei Vesaas’ Gøhril Gabrielsen (b. 1961) grew up in Finnmark, the northernmost Debutant Prize and recieved the Aschehoug Debutant Sti- county in Norway, but currently lives in Oslo. She is an educated pend for her first book. She lives in Oslo and works as a nurse and copywriter. Gabrielsen made her debut with the nov- journalist. el Unspeakable Events (2006) and has since then published four

Photo: Tine Poppe novels. Photo: Tine Poppe 18 19 GAUTE HEIVOLL IDA HEGAZI HØYER Norwegian Book Award Brageprisen 2010, The Sult Award 2011 Winner of the EU Prize in Literature 2015 Nominated to the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2014 Named one of Norway’s best authors under 35

STORIES OF SOLACE BEFORE I BURN Praise for Before I Burn: Historier om trøst Før jeg brenner ned “Intense excitement and low key reflection. Novel, 200 pages Novel, 304 pages (…) It is so well, so beautifully done” Tiden Norsk Forlag 2016 Tiden Norsk Forlag 2010 — NRK Foreign rights: German Sold to 20 languages “The sensation of the autumn? … This one nameless woman travels alone to three European cities. In each city, she meets y juxtaposing the pyromani- is unbeatable” Aand starts a relationship with a man, a woman and a young boy. With intense, Bac’s story with his own, Gaute — Dagbladet dark and intelligent prose, the three chamber plays are, in a subtle way, also linked Heivoll lays bare the insanity in to the most crucial political and human issues of today’s Europe. every human life in masterful fash- ion. For how much does it really Praise for Song of Sixty-eight Traitors: take to touch rock bottom? To

find yourself in danger of destroy- “ Heivoll succeed in describing how a small TIDEN ing everything you have? society can be wrecked by destructive forces Unnskyld and how it can be healed by art” Novel, 222 pages TIDEN — Adresseavisen Tiden Norsk Forlag 2014 SONG FOR SIXTY-EIGHT Foreign rights: Alba- TRAITORS nian, Bulgarian, Cro- atian, Danish, Dutch, Sang for sekstiåtte forrædere Macedonian, Serbian, Novel, 317 pages Spanish Tiden Norsk Forlag 2018

novel about crime and pun- Aishment, guilt and atone- Fortellingen om øde ment, shame and reconcilliation. Novel, 220 pages And about music and it’s ability to Tiden Norsk Forlag 2015 unite what is seemingly impossi- Foreign rights: Bulgar- ble to unite. ian, Danish, German, Hungarian

Gaute Heivoll (b. 1978) debuted in 2002, and has written poems, childrens books, short stories and novels. In 2010 he was award- Ida Hegazi Høyer (b. 1981), made her literary debut in 2012 ed Brageprisen, Norways most prestigius literary award, for his with the novel Underneath the world. The novel Stories of novel Before I Burn, which was subsequently sold to more than Solace got fantastic reviews, and figured on at least five dif- 20 countries. ferent “best of 2016” lists in Norwegian newspapers.

Photo: Paal Audestad Photo: Svein Finneide 20 21 MONICA ISAKSTUEN JAN KJÆRSTAD Norwegian Book Award Brageprisen 2016 Nordic Council Literature Prize

RAGE BE KIND TO THE ANIMALS BERGE

Rase Vær snill med dyrene Berge Novel, 228 pages Novel, 207 pages Novel, 378 pages Pelikanen forlag 2018 Tiden Norsk Forlag 2016 Aschehoug 2017 Foreign Rights: Danish, Serbian Foreign rights: Albanian, Bulgarian, Danish, Foreign rights: Czec, Danish, German, Swedish German, Swedish he most unlikely things happen in this world, again and again. Yet, age is a story about we are never prepared for them. Berge is a story of horrible events, small family of three T two thinking, talking told from three different points of view. A journalist, a judge and an R is falling apart. Kar- people who meet, fall in A ex-boyfriend. Without touching upon the July 22nd attack in Norway, en questions her role as a love, have twins and buy Berge is a novel that would not have been written without it. mother without a well-func- an old ramshackle house tioning family? Is the more or less before they

daughter still hers when she ASCHEHOUG know what hit them. Sit- is with her father? If you’re

ting topless and pinned TIDEN a mother one week, what “One of the most influential writers of his generation. Say his name, and to her sofa by a giant are you the next? Be Kind to I think of Milan Kundera, Martin Amis and Frank Zappa” twin nursing pillow (or the Animals is a raw, warm, rather pillory), the pro- – Linn Ullmann

PELIKANEN acute, but at the same time tagonist wonders what is surprising novel about living left of the person she in- in the ruins of a marriage “This novel cements his position as one of the most versatile, creative troduced to her partner a with the one you care about and important authors in Scandinavia” few years earlier. the most – every other week. – Svenska Dagbladet

Praise for Be Kind to The Animals:

The best divorce novel I have ever read (…) a dark and funny, somewhat laden novel about Ever since his debut in 1980, Jan Kjærstad (b. 1953) has been one of the feelings that are almost forbidden. most prominent authors in contempo- — Aftonbladet, Sweden rary Norwegian literature. The Jonas Wergeland-trilogy The Seducer (1993), The Conquerer (1996) and The Inventer Monica Isakstuen (b. 1976) made her literary debut in 2009. Her (1999) secured the author the Nordic 2014 novel Replay about pianist Joyce Hatto and the greatest Council’s Prize for Literature. His novel fraud in classical music earned rave reviews, with VG naming it Berge (2018) was one of the most sold one of the best books of the year. Her work as a playwright is and best reviewed books in Norway in also translated into several languages. 2018.

Photo: Paal Audestad Photo: Mette Solberg Fjeldheim 22 23 ROSKVA KORITZINSKY THURE ERIK LUND Nominated to the Nordic Council Literature Award 2018 Sult Award 2000, Critic's Prize 2005, Dobloug Prize 2009 “The final story, where a daughter writes to her father, is world class. Sore and painful, revealing and near” Thure Erik Lund (b. 1959) is one of Norway’s most – VG innovative and highly acclaimed authors. He made his debut with Tanger in 1992, for which he was awarded the Tarjei Vesaas’ Debutant Prize. He has since published eight more novels and two collections of essays. ASCHEHOUG

Praise for Identity: ASCHEHOUG

“No one else in the entire Kingdom I HAVE NOT YET writes like Lund, every single sentence IDENTITY is both precise and offhand at the same SEEN THE WORLD time, driven by an unique, hammering Identitet Jeg har ennå ikke sett verden Novel, 471 pages musicality” Short stories, 94 pages Aschehoug 2017 – Dagbladet Roskva Koritzinsky (b. 1989) Aschehoug 2017 is one of Norway's most Foreign rights: Danish, acclaimed short-story wri- German, Russian Spanish, ters and made her debut Praise for The Ditch Incident Mystery: Swedish with the short story collection In Here Somewhere in THE DITCH "You can open more or less any page middle aged man, working in 2013, for which she received of The Ditch Incident Mystery and find drug rehabilitation, leaves his Aschehoug‘s Debutant Prize INCIDENT MYSTERY A quote-worthy sentences. Author Thure wife and children after falling in love and was nominated to Tar- jei Vesaas‘ Debutant Prize. with a teenage client. A single wom- Grøftetildragelsesmysteriet Erik Lund has a unique talent for formu- an returns from work one day, to find Novel, 272 pages lation, a rare mix of presision, wild oral that an entire litter of puppies have Aschehoug 1999 jargon, word-inventing creativity and gone missing. A girl writes a love Foreign rights sold: German strong reasoning" letter to her boyfriend, seven months – Dagbladet after his death.

24 Photo: Håkon Borg Photo: Niklas Lello 25 LARS PETTER SVEEN DEMIAN VITANZA Named one of Norway’s ten best authors under 35 in 2015 “A subdued explosion that sends shrapnel in all directions – to journalism, to Winner of the P.O. Enqust Award 2016, Sult Award 2015 literary fiction, to immigration policy, to criticism of religion” – Morgenbladet CHILDREN OF GOD

Guds barn Novel, 240 pages THIS LIFE OR THE NEXT Aschehoug 2014 “Children of God must be this year’s Dette livet eller det neste Foreign rights sold: American best novel. (…) Tradition meets a English, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simpli- Novel, 345 pages rare literary talent” Aschehoug 2017 Demian Vitanza (b. 1983) fied), Danish, French, Swedish – Aftenposten Foreign rights: American English, British is a playwright and author. English, Czech, Dutch He made his literary debut hildren of God is a story of good and with the highly critically Cevil, seen through the eyes of bibli- n 2015, author Demian Vitanza was acclaimed Urak (2011). His cal, historical and mythical figures that Iteaching a writing class in one of Norways play Londinuim is translat- ASCHEHOUG reflect our time as much as their own. Photo: Tine Poppe high security prisons when he met «Tariq», a ed to danish, french and A highly contemporary novel that opens in Bethlehem young Norwegian-Pakistani man imprisoned chinese, and his dramatic at the time of Jesus’ birth, following one of the soldiers exce- for travelling to Syria and taking part in work have been staged at cuting King Herod’s command to kill all boys under the age of terrorist activities. «I want you to write my The Norwegian National two. We later meet postitutes and gangs of robbers, prophets story» he told Vitanza. «But it needs to be in Theatre and Det Norske

ASCHEHOUG and disciples, young children and lepers – all caught between the form of a novel» Teateret a.o. powers of good and evil. Their stories form a web where the Based on more than hundred

fantastic and terrifying, great and small go hand in hand. Officer hours of conversation, this groundbreaking Photo: Tine Poppe Cato doubts whether he can live with his actions. Jacob’s father work of literary fiction is the story of a young is afraid that his son is touched by evil because he stammers. man driven as much by idealism as by his Anna is looking for the man she once loved. emerging faith, who constantly questions and doubts the actions that eventually puts him at the Syrian border in the middle of the night. FIVE STARS FIVE SHADOWS Combined with the literary sensibili- ty of one of Norways best young authors, this Fem stjerner Fem skygger novel, in addition to shining new light on one Novel, 255 pages Novel, 256 pages of the most urgent issues of todays Europe, is Ascehoug forlag 2017 Ascehoug forlag 2018 also a timeless work of literature about memory, truth and the way we present and justify our own stories.

Lars Petter Sveen (b. 1981) made his debut “In a taut tale of radicalization, Norway's with the short story collection Driving from Demian Vitanza contributes This Life Or The Fræna in 2008, and got his big breakthrough Next to a season of top-notch political books” in 2014 with his third novel Children of God. – Publishing Perspectives

26 27 CRIME

Lasse Gallefoss (30) Unni Lindell (31) Aslak Nore (32) Trude Teige (33)

29 LASSE GALLEFOSS UNNI LINDELL “If you have not already noted the name Lasse Gallefoss, just do it” The Riverton Prize – Klassekampen THE DRONE WARRIOR’S PEACE Dronen Crime novel “Exciting moments are lining up” Krigerens fred When several policemen new war breaking out, a war in 384 pages – Dagbladet Crime novel who worked for the Nazis during which secrets from the past war Aschehoug 2018 the war were found dead of the can get you killed. Foreign rights: Dutch, 496 pages “Here is creeping discomfort, frightening scenes, Aschehoug 2018 same torture methods they them- German, Greek, Icelan- selves used during the war, Storm dic, Swedish an exciting crime mystery and well-developed realises that he too must be on the characters who are more than what they appear to orld War II is over and the killer’s death list. At the same time man stands in a be on the surface” Wvictors govern the country. he has been assigned to investigate Aclosed down military – VG During the German occupation the case. camp and sends a drone Storm Steinset was a double agent Storm’s partner is the ut into a dark forest. for the Norwegian Resistance police force’s youngest deputy, a He is filming. The time “One can get afraid of the woods by Unni Lindell’s Movement, and his mission is still rising star Robert Rødberg who is 09.35, Friday, 16th June, 17 degrees celsius, new novel. Yet, she has an ability to make covert; he gave an oath never to dreams of becoming a hero – and just before sundown. The tops of the pine trees discomfort into a great party” ASCHEHOUG reveal his true activities during the despises people like Storm. seem to be in flames as the last rays of sunlight – Dagsavisen war, even in peacetime. In their hunt for the killer create a sharp dividing line of brilliant orange This means he must live Storm and Robert delve into the and dark green. with the fact that his colleagues in secrets of the innermost circles of The Drone approaches the open area of

ASCHEHOUG the Oslo Police Department think power in the formerly occupied a rapeseed field. A tent suddenly appears on the he was a Nazi. country. There is the threat of a drone’s monitor. The tent stands exactly where Evie Thorn was stabbed to death five years earlier. And now another woman comes into view. Did she really pitch her tent on the exact same spot? The sun sinks down creating a wide seg- “Convincing and intense crime thriller, well mented line on the horizon, and disappears. The composed and well written” birds stop twittering. The mans’s heart pounds – VG like a hammer against his chest. He has never had a girlfriend. Women should not be out “Sophisticated and surprising” camping alone, not in the dark forest. Photo: Vegard Dale Bergheim Vegard Photo: – Bergens Tidende The Drone is the second novel in the stand alone-series featuring Marian Dahle.

Lasse Gallefoss (b. 1980) is a director and documentary Unni Lindell (b. 1957) is one of Norway’s best selling filmmaker. As a documentarian he has filmed in 35 co- writers. Her crime novels have been translated into untries, and has made several documentary series for numerous languages and has sold millions of co- NRK. The last three of his series have been nominated for pies. Lindell has also written poems, short stories a Gold Frame Award, the Norwegian Emmy, and his latest and books for children and young adults. She has series Flight (2017) won three Gold Frame, among other received several literary prizes for her works. In 2019 for best director. Lindell was awarded the prestiguous Riverton Prize for best crime novel of the year. Photo: Olav Heggø 30 31 ASLAK NORE TRUDE TEIGE Winner of the Riverton Award 2017 Three times The Bookseller’s Award nominee Named best crime novel of the year by VG THE PATIENT he dies, he whispers: – they kill and neglected children. patients here. Soon Kajsa’s employer is WOLFSANGEL Pasienten One of the few who found murdered, and the inves- The fifth volume in the series managed to talk to Croesus, was tigation reveals that he was not Ulvefellen about journalist Kajsa Coren Julia, the daughter of a brain who he said Crime novel, 368 pages decides to return the Norwegian spy he Crime novel, 384 pages surgeon who works at Dike- he was. Aschehoug 2017 to Germany to employs his own secret Aschehoug 2018 mark. Foreign rights: Danish, Dutch, uncover the mys- weapon: A beautiful and Foreign rights: German, Some years later Julia Polish tery and redeem troubled Polish woman Ukrainian disappears without a trace, and himself. recruited as a German when journalist Kajsa Coren n extraordinary thriller about Werner agent. Can Storm get is summoned to find out what Aa man determined to change Sorge is an officer his game-changing intel e calls himself Croesus and happened, she is thrown into the course of the World War II. in the German out of the Reich? Will Hhas been a patient at the a maelstrom that includes psy- A disillusioned Iron security service Sorge bait him into the Norwegian mental institution chiatric research, an undiscov- Cross-winning veteran injured whose investiga- Wolfsangel trap? Dikemark for 50 years. Before ered Edvard Munch-painting on the Eastern front, Norwegian tions cross paths An epic hunt is ASCHEHOUG Henry Storm is the unlikeliest of with the secret on, and the outcome of heroes. Discovering the secret of rocket program the second world war is a German “wonder weapon” he and Storm. To find at stake. ASCHEHOUG

“The Riverton jury was never in doubt that Wolfsangel is the best work of crime fiction in Norway in 2017” – Hans H. Skei, Professor of Literature on behalf of the jury

“Aslak Nore has written an excellent spy thriller based on actual events during WW2” – Leif Ekle, NRK Trude Teige (b. 1960) is one of Norway’s most re- cognized journalists, through her work as political reporter, news presenter and TV-host.

Her literary debut, the historical novel The Sea Sings (2002), was followed by Leaning Against the Aslak Nore (b. 1978) is an author and non-fiction editor. Nore Wind (2004). served as a rifle-man in Bosnia in the late 90’s and has travelled extensively in Afghanistan and the Middle East as a jour- In 2009 she wrote her first crime novel, Someone nalist. A former Fulbright recipient, he has lived in New York Knows, featuring the TV-journalist Kajsa Coren. and Central America. His books include God Is Norwegian The series of stand alones now counts five novels. (2007), A Norwegian Spy (2012) and Oslo Noir (2014). Two of the books in the series have been nominated for the Bookseller’s Award.

Photo: Oda Berby 32 Photo: AKAM13 33 NON-FICTION

Nina Brockmann, Ellen Støkken Dahl and Hanne Sigbjørnsen (36 -37) Ivo De Figuiredo (38) Marit B. Kasin (39) Lars Fr. H. Svendsen (40 - 41) Katharina and Linnea Vestre (42 - 43) Pål Moddi Knutsen (44) Reider Müller (45) Erling Sandmo (46) Henrik Svensen (47)

35 NINA BROCHMANN LE CHARME DISCRET DE L’INTESTIN & ELLEN STOKKEN DAHL Surpoids, dépression, diabète, maladies de peau… et si Nina Brochmann e tout se jouait dans l’intestin ? Au ﬁ l des pages de son brillant ouvrage, Giulia Enders, jeune doctorante en médecine, plaide avec humour pour Ellen Støkken Dahl

cet organe qu’on a tendance à négliger, voire à maltraiter. GIULIA ENDERS Après une visite guidée au sein de notre système diges- tif, elle présente, toujours de façon claire et captivante, LES NINA BROCHMANN & les résultats des toutes dernières recherches sur le rôle du “deuxième cerveau’’ pour notre bien-être. C’est avec des arguments scientiﬁ ques qu’elle nous invite à changer de comportement alimentaire, à éviter certains médicaments JOIES ainsi qu’à appliquer quelques règles très concrètes en fa- veur d’une digestion réussie. V I VA Irrésistiblement illustré par Jill Enders, la sœur de l’auteur, voici un livre qui nous réconcilie avec notre A ventre. Succès surprise, Le Charme discret de l’intestin s’est D’EN BAS vendu à plus de un million d’exemplaires en Allemagne et sera publié dans une trentaine de pays. THE VAG I N A Née en 1990, Giulia Enders, passionnée de gastroentérologie, ﬁ nalise sa thèse à l’université de Francfort. Motivée par la guérison de sa grave maladie de peau grâce à un changement radical de son alimen- tation, la jeune femme se penche sur les études les plus récentes de ce domaine. Premier prix de la Nuit des sciences de Berlin, où les jeunes ELLEN STØKKEN DAHL chercheurs communiquent de la façon la plus originale le résultat de TOUT SUR LE leurs études, son intervention a eu un succès faramineux sur la Toile. WONDER DOWN tudo que você L’illustratrice Jill Enders, graphiste diplômée, participe dès le début SEXE au succès des travaux de sa sœur. LE CHARME DISCRET DE L’INTESTIN FÉMININ sempre quis Illustrated by Hanne Sigbjørnsen Traduit de l’allemand par Isabelle Liber UNDER saber Giulia et Jill Enders Illustration de couverture : © Jill Enders ISBN 978-2-330-04881-5 ACTES SUD DÉP. LÉG. : AVRIL 2015 21,80 TTC France

9:HSMDNA=UY]]VZ: SUD ACTES www.actes-sud.fr ( ACTES SUD ) Gleden med skjeden Norwegian bestseller sold to 36 languages! pussy.indd 2 Sexual health17/10/2017 10:11 312 pages Aschehoug 2018

ou might have thought Y you knew your own genitals? Think again! In The Wonder Down Under you learn the truth about the clitoris’ inner life, the men- strual hormone dance and whether the vaginal orgasm

NINA BROCHMANN really exists. The book helps LE CHARME DISCRET DE L’INTESTIN & ELLEN STOKKEN DAHL Surpoids, dépression, diabète, maladies de peau… et si

ASCHEHOUG tout se jouait dans l’intestin ? Au ﬁ l des pages de son brillant ouvrage, Giulia Enders, jeune doctorante en médecine, plaide avec humour pour you understand how different

cet organe qu’on a tendance à négliger, voire à maltraiter. GIULIA ENDERS Après une visite guidée au sein de notre système diges- tif, elle présente, toujours de façon claire et captivante, LES les résultats des toutes dernières recherches sur le rôle du “deuxième cerveau’’ pour notre bien-être. C’est avec des arguments scientiﬁ ques qu’elle nous invite à changer de types of contraception work comportement alimentaire, à éviter certains médicaments JOIES ainsi qu’à appliquer quelques règles très concrètes en fa- veur d’une digestion réussie. Irrésistiblement illustré par Jill Enders, la sœur de l’auteur, voici un livre qui nous réconcilie avec notre ventre. Succès surprise, Le Charme discret de l’intestin s’est D’EN BAS in the body, what a “normal” vendu à plus de un million d’exemplaires en Allemagne et sera publié dans une trentaine de pays. Née en 1990, Giulia Enders, passionnée de gastroentérologie, ﬁ nalise sa thèse à l’université de Francfort. Motivée par la guérison de sa grave maladie de peau grâce à un changement radical de son alimen- vagina looks like and what tation, la jeune femme se penche sur les études les plus récentes de ce domaine. Premier prix de la Nuit des sciences de Berlin, où les jeunes chercheurs communiquent de la façon la plus originale le résultat de TOUT SUR LE leurs études, son intervention a eu un succès faramineux sur la Toile. L’illustratrice Jill Enders, graphiste diplômée, participe dès le début SEXE au succès des travaux de sa sœur. LE CHARME DISCRET DE L’INTESTIN FÉMININ the clitoris really is. The book Traduit de l’allemand par Isabelle Liber quite simply gives women Giulia et Jill Enders Illustration de couverture : © Jill Enders ISBN 978-2-330-04881-5 ACTES SUD DÉP. LÉG. : AVRIL 2015 21,80 TTC France 9:HSMDNA=UY]]VZ: SUD ACTES the knowledge they need to www.actes-sud.fr ( ACTES SUD ) Photo: Anne Valeur pussy.indd 2 17/10/2017 10:11 © Anne Valeur Photo: Stine Friis Hals make wise choices about Nina Brochmann (b. 1987) and They have both spent several Hanne Sigbjørnsen (b. 1989), Ellen Støkken Dahl (b. 1991) years working with sexual he- aka Tegnehanne, is an award their sexual health. are both doctors. They got alth among young people and winning cartoonist and their medical education from minority groups, both as te- illustrator. the University of Oslo. acher and health workers.

“Dahl and Brochmann shatter myth after myth, all in language that is factual, easily understandable, engaging, uplifting and witty at the same time – this book is quite simply absolutely brilliant” – Fædrelandsvennen 36 37 IVO DE FIGUEIREDO MARIT B. KASIN

“This book should be hailed an instant classic in the Norwegian wilderness prose. A heartwarming read” – Klassekampen

WINTER DANCE

Vinterdans Non-fiction HENRIK IBSEN 224 pages ical and historical has gone the Aschehoug 2018 The Man and The Mask aspects of his life and long way to Foreign rights: German work have received archives and Mennesket og masken less attention. Admit- other sources Biography, 700 pages tedly, there are several in order to n Winter Dance Marit Beate Kasin’s Aschehoug 2007 biographies on Ibsen, reconstruct a writes about her three participations ASCHEHOUG Foreign rights: British I most of them written wholly new in the extremely tough sled dog race English, Chinese, Czech, Da- by literati. Howev- and indepen- Finnmarksløpet, a race were the contes- nish, Macedonian, Russian, er, up until now, no Ibsen dent history on Ibsen’s life, tants fight with themselves, the forces of Serbian biography fulfills all of the thus managing to interweave nature and the competitors for six days

ASCHEHOUG lthough the literature on three essential requirements the Man, the Author and his and nights over thousand kilometres in AHenrik Ibsen is enormous, for biographies: to be well Works in one single narrative. some of the most demanding and remote most of the texts analyse his researched, well written and mountain areas north in Norway. works, whereas the biograph- well updated. De Figueiredo Winter Dance also tells Kasin’s story, from being a newbie in long distance Winter Dance is first and foremost a book dog sledding, to become Norwegian about living simple and dreaming big, “This Ibsen-biography shares champion and overall winner in Europe’s about the interaction between humans the quality of its subject: It is longest sled dog race. It is a life in storm and animals, about the forces of nature unsurpassable” and silence, close to nature and close to and the forces in ourselves, and how the dogs, with their different fascinating extreme situations and challenges makes – Klassekampen personalities. us stronger.

Ivo de Figueiredo (b. 1966) is a his- torian, author and critic. The highly Marit Beate Kasin (b. 1983) is a sled dog driver and a journa- praised two-volume biography on list. In 2008 she started the kennel Winter Dance. She has Henrik Ibsen (2006/07) is today con- participated the extreme Finnmarksløpet sled dog race three sidered the most complete and well times. In 2015 she ended up as the best rookie. In 2016 she researched biography on Henrik Ib- became the Norwegian champion, and she was the overall sen. winner in 2016 and 2017 combined. Photo: Aschehoug Photo: Dominique Fleischmann

38 Photo: Aschehoug 39 LARS FR. H. SVENDSEN His books has been translated into 25 languages “Svendsen isn’t just a clear mind and well bespoken. He is witty.” – Dagbladet

UNDERSTANDING ANIMALS Philosophy for Dog Lovers and Cat Lovers Å forstå dyr. Filosofi for hunde- og katteelskere Would you understand Philosophy, 192 pages your dog if it could talk? Kagge 2018 Foreign rights: British English, animals, with examples and discus- Croatian, Danish, German, sions from the history of philosophy. Italian, Korean, Turkish From the French philosopher who feel shame when he stands naked in the ost of us have no dobuts that a bathroom and the cat looks at him, to Mdog is happy when it wags its the philosophical questions whether tail or that the cat is pleased when it animals can be lonely. purrs. But how do the animals we are Understanding animals is an surrounded by actually think? And can informative, entertaining and witful “Understanding Animals is the type of book I have been wanting to read KAGGE we really understand them? book about animals and whether it for a long time, I just realised it when I got it. I like both cats and Lars Fr. H. Svendsen has makes sense to describe our animals philosophy – this was a joy to read – de luxe” written a book about understanding with human characteristics. - Vårt Land

“Philosopher Lars Fr. H. Svendsen has written an intelligent book on dogs and cats: Can we understand the animals? A wise reflection in the debate about animal welfare” – Aftenposten

Lars Fr. H. Svendsen (b. 1970) is a doctor of philosophy and professor of philosophy at the University of Bergen. He is also an internationally bestselling non-fiction author, with a unique ability to communicate difficult contemporary and international topics in a straightforward way. Svendsen has received several prizes for his work. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Photo: Sturlason

40 41 KATHARINA VESTRE Illustrated by Linnea Vestre Sold to 21 languages THE MAKING OF YOU A Journey From Cell to Human

Det første mysteriet — rabbit and later studied the Historien om deg før du changes in its ovaries; Or ble født that the tiny male sea worm Popular science ‘Bonellia viridis’ spends his 150 pages entire life inside the much Aschehoug 2018 larger female, as her personal sperm donor. he Making of You tells the Tstory of you (and me and These are two of the very everyone), from concepti- many strange facts you’ll find on to birth, from the first in The Making of You. Where primitive cell divisions – until Katharina Vestre tells us all nine months later, when we about the miraculous process fight our way out of an overly that takes place inside a mot- narrow opening as ready-ma- her’s womb. de human children. The Making of You is popular Did you know that the science, history of science, ASCHEHOUG expression ‘The rabbit died’ storytelling and public edu- (indicating that a woman is cation at its best. Charming, pregnant) stems from preg entertaining, fun, accessible, nancy tests during the 1920s, inclusive and knowledgeable. where the doctors injected the woman’s urine into a

Katharina Vestre (b. 1992) is a Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Bio- sciences at the University of “… it’s the sort of warm, curious, brilliantly clear and humane Oslo. The First Mystery is her literary debut. The book is il- science writing that I absolutely love.” lustrated by her sister Linnea – Ed Lake, Profile Books Vestre (b. 1993).

“An exciting and astounding visual story about our creation (…) she has an incredible Photos: Hildur Augustsdottir ability to explain complex phenomena in an understandable and appetising way” - Dagbladet 42 43 PÅL MODDI KNUTSEN REIDAR MÜLLER Music meets literature with strong political commitment Popular science at its best

UNSONGS As a result of his exploration into the world of censored music, Moddi launched the HOWLING IN THE WOODS Ten untold stories about internationally critically acclaimed album Unsongs wise sober naturalist, becomes deeply fascinated censorship and music (2016), a collection of The History of the Forest and the Man with this mysterious animal of prey. He learns 12 banned songs from Who Came Looking for the Grey Wolf from experienced Forbudte sanger. around the world, from woodsmen how to Ti historier — fem kontinenter Pussy Riots “Punk Skogens historie track the wolf, and is History and society, 256 pages Prayer”, “Army Dream- Popular science, 270 pages drawn ever deeper into Aschehoug 2017 ers” by Kate Bush to Aschehoug 2018 the woods. Until he Foreign rights: German Mexican narcocorridos Foreign rights: Czech, German, Italian, finds himself standing and songs from the Mid- Russian, Spanish alone in the wilderness, scheduled gig in Tel Aviv in the Spring of dle East. howling to the Grey A2014 changed Pål Moddi Knutsen’s life forev- In the book Un- Wolf. er. After experiencing a cross fire of criticism and songs, ten untold stories predator, mythical and debated, is lurking While search- realizing that playing in Israel was not a matter about censorship and Aaround in the Scandinavian woods. ing for the wolf, the for the faint hearted or seemingly a simple gesture music, we meet 10 des- author explores the ASCHEHOUG in the name of music, he decided to cancel the tinies behind the songs, At first the author just wants to get close to it. history of the forest; its concert. who all have faced Then his search becomes an obsession. plants and animals, it’s The cancellation lead him to discover censorship, persecution The forests of folklore are the homes evolution and myth, how politically powerful a simple song can be and and violent suppression. of strange, supernatural creatures. But worldly and how it has and

ASCHEHOUG that the world was full of artists who had been im- This book is a tribute to the power of music in a beasts have also aroused wonder and fear. None hasn’t changed over prisoned and silenced for their songs, even killed. time when most people shun the idea of music as more so than the wolf. Reidar Müller, an other millions of years. And so, a journey began over five continents a political tool. Moddi, however, shows us that where he met artists who had written songs that political music can be as dangerous as a shotgun. mattered.

Pål Moddi Knutsen (b. 1987) is a Norwegian musi- Reidar Müller (b. 1971) has a doctorate in geology cian and author, and a political and social activist. and is associated with University of Oslo as a re- His music has been described as a blend of folk searcher. He is also an educated journalist and has music and pop, although he refers to himself as written regularly about natural science in newspa- a singer and storyteller. Moddi is widely recogni- pers and journals. His previous book What Norway sed for his interpretations and translations of ot- Became (2014), a time travel in the history of Nor- her artists, such as Vashti Bunyan and Pussy Riot. wegian nature, aroused excitement among both Unsongs is his first book. reviewers and the public.

Photo: Jørgen Nordby Photo: Harlad Medbøe

44 45 ERLING SANDMO HENRIK SVENSEN “Finally they are out of the closet, the monsters of childhood - in “A brilliant book, driven by joyful storytelling and packed with joyful form and magnificent animation” knowledge (...) a joy to read” — Morgenbladet — Morgenbladet IN HIGH PLACES MONSTROUS archives of the Nation- al Library and found a A Personal, Historical and Scientific Approach to the Bergtatt. Fjellenes Sea Monsters in Maps series of spectacular sto- Uhyrlig. Sjømonstre i kart World’s Greatest Mountain Ranges historie og fasci- and Literature ries of encounters with og litteratur 1491 – 1895. nasjonen for det 1491 - 1895 sea monsters. History & Society n High Places is an informative, Peaks and ranges have been opphøyde This delightful lit- 95 pages I brilliant written and entertaining regarded as fearful and sacred, History & Society igantic sea snakes, tle book brings us images Nationalbiblioteket 2017 book about what we have terrible and enigmatic, beautiful 262 pages Gmulti-eyed ocean pigs of a variety of monsters Foreign rights: German known, what we know and and symbolic. In many cultures, Aschehoug 2011 or fish the size of elephants: from old maps and books, what we want to know about mountains are still sacred, Foreign rights: Sailors of the past had to together with Sandmo’s in- mountains. Central themes are and have superior Czech, Italian, prepare for the worst when sightful, fascinating essays how these landscapes affect us symbolic meaning. Polish, Slovakian they travelled the seas. on their origin, meaning and how they are formed. History professor Erling and eventual disappear- People have always ASCHEHOUG Sandmo has dived into the ance. beenfascinated by mountains.

Henrik Svensen (b. 1970) NATIONALBIBLIOTEKET has a PhD in Geology from the University of Oslo, followed by studies in History of ideas. He is currently working as Research professor in geology at the University of Oslo. Svensen has written several books on dramatic events in the history of the earth. Photo: Aschehoug

Erling Sandmo (b. 1963) is professor of history at the University of Oslo, researcher at the national library, author and critic. He has written a number of books and articles on criminal violence, historical method and classical music, to name a few, and is an established music critic. 46 47 Photo: UiO OKTOBER

Kjell Askildsen (50 - 51) Gunstein Bakke (52) Rune Christiansen (53) Edvard Hoem (54) Jenny Hval (55) Mona Høvring (56) Merethe Lindstrøm (57) Nina Lykke (58) Jon Michelet (59) Per Petterson (60 - 61) Anne B. Ragde (62 - 63) Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold (64 - 65) Dag Solstad (66 - 67) Thorvald Steen (68) Espen Søbye (69) Hanne Ørstavik (70 - 71) Lars Amund Vaage (72)

49 KJELL ASKILDSEN THOMAS F’S FINAL NOTES TO THE PUBLIC Thomas F’s siste nedtegnelser til almenheten Thomas is old. He lives alone and knows he is Short stories, 96 pages about to die. We meet him in ten different situa- Oktober 1983 tions; all in which he meets other people – and Kjell Askildsen (b. 1929) this is how the reader gets to know him. Finally, ”The world isn’t what it used to is an inescapable refe- the door bell rings, and a boy is standing outside be. For example, it takes more rence in contemporary the door. His name is also Thomas, and suddenly time to live now. I’m well into Scandinavian literature. the old Thomas becomes sentimental: To make my eighties but it isn’t enough. Admired above all for sure someone will remember him, he offers the I’m far too healthy, though I his short stories, As- boy a gift. kildsen has cultivated have nothing to be healthy for. But life won’t let go of me. He a terse, ascetic style, Two unforgettable stories from Norway’s unrival- who has nothing to live for has perfectly suited for led short story master. Named the best Norwegi- nothing to die for. Maybe that’s his existential themes. an book in the last 25 years by Dagbladet in 2006. Though the world view why.” often seems bleak, his works are also full of black humour. The Swedish Academy’s “A master of short story writing” Askildsen entered the – El Pais, Spain literary scene in 1953 Nordic Prize 2009

OKTOBER with an acclaimed and controversial short Brage Honorary Prize 1996 “Hurry if you don’t want to miss out on Kjell story collection. After Critics’ Prize 1991 & 1983 Askildsen’s characters (…) If you ignore them, two more story collections and five novels, he you ignore a part of yourself” gained a wider readers- Sold in 32 territories – Le Monde des Livres, France hip in the 1980s with the Critics’ Prize winning Thomas F.’s Final Notes “Askildsen’s dry, absurd humour is not unlike that to the Public and a sele- of Beckett … His short stories are packed with ction of his best stories. irony, and the dialogue is sharp and expressive” Two more excellent collections followed – Times Literary Supplement, UK in the 1990s. In 2015 Askildsen returned with the acclaimed The Cost of “Askildsen writes dense texts loaded with tension. Friendship. While apparently focussing on details, he pene- trates the characters’ appearances” – Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany

5050 Photo: Nils Petter Lotherington 51 52 OKTOBER Photo: Elgvin Christian L. A Macedonian,Latvian, Serbian Foreign Albanian,Bulgarian, rights: Croatian, Czech, German, Oktober 2011 Novel, 224pages Maud ogAud MAUD ANDAUD hit by both trafficand love,andbylanguageitself. hit byboth Heshowsushow weare and doestous,ofwhatanovelcanbe. whattraffic reallyis breaks newgroundinourunderstandingofboth thewheelinaccident-riddencar.or what,isbehind young tonothaveaknowledgeofallthings,decidesfindoutwho, stilltoo drivers isthreatenedbyablack Mercedes.18yearold Lovall, her,comestoanendfromonesecondthenext. used tobe as theroadandoneofthem,RuthBore,alongwitheverythingthat GUNSTEIN BAKKE it, whenthefamilyisseparatedfromitseverydaylifeaswell ud andMaudaresittingintheback seatwhenthe engineer loses In this poetic, essayistic, yetgothicnovel,GunsteinBakke In thispoetic,essayistic, Nearly threedecades later,thejourneyofsomepeaceful The European UnionPrizeforLiterature2012 try and novels.try the July 22 attacks and translated both poe - collection ofpoetry, edited ananthology on the Critics’ Prize. Bakke hasalso published a with terrific reviews and was nominated for awards. Thefollow-up, Expectant, was met P2 Listeners’ Novel Prize andseveral other forand was shortlisted theBrage Prize, the novel, with thenovel in2000. TheOffice His third Gunstein Bakke (b. 1968) madehisdebut Maud and Aud (2011), won the EU prize GRIEVING FORESTGRIEVING FANNY ANDTHEMYSTERY INTHE RUNE CHRISTIANSEN “An exquisitelywrittennovelofgrief…RuneChristiansenshowsyetagainwhyhe A Dutch, French Foreign rights:AmericanEnglish,Danish, Oktober 2017 Novel, 224pages Fanny andtheMysteryinGrievingForest novelists. and anothermasterpiecebyoneofNorway’s mostextraordinary hopeandunease, anything elseonthesubject.Itisnovelofboth thatmakeitunlike grief writtenwithalightnessandvisualbeauty mes ataleoffriendship,independenceandtransgression. - peculiar approach totheworld,seeminglysimplestorybeco notionsandpossibilities.Throughworld, fullofstubborn Fanny’s wood andkeepingtheweedatbay. to school, repairing theraingutter,chopping as sheperformshersimpledailychores: getting the outskirtsofasmalltown.The daysgoby shecan,aloneon She triestoliveonasbest she isallowedtostayoninthefamilyhouse. The Absence of Music, 2007 ofThe Absence Music, Chrysantemum, 2009 The Loneliness in Lydia Erneman's Life,2014 car accident.It’s herfinalschool year,and t seventeen,Fanny parentsina losesboth Fanny intheGrieving Forest isanovelabout andtheMystery circumstances,thereisafairytale-like hersad But beneath is oneofNorway’s leadingliterarystylists” — Aftenposten

Photo: Baard Henriksen Brage Prize. st, whichwas also nominated for the Fore intheGrieving and theMystery - Prize. In2017, hepublished Fanny forand was shortlisted theCritics’ (2014), whichwon theBrage Prize, Loneliness in Lydia Erneman’s Life audience came with the novel The His great breakthrough withawider hed anumber ofacclaimed novels. his attention to prose, havingpublis- Christiansen hasincreasingly turned known asa groundbreaking poet, in 1986.first book of poetry Initially landscapean literary already withhis figure intheNorwegi- an important Rune Christiansen (b. 1963) became

OKTOBER OKTOBER EDVARD HOEM JENNY HVAL More than 50,000 copies in print in Norway “As intriguing and impressive a novelist as she is a musician, Hval is a master of quiet horror and wonder” – Chris Kraus MIDWIFE ON EARTH

Jordmor på jorda Novel, 356 pages Oktober 2018 Foreign rights: Danish, Czech, German Jenny Hval (b. 1980) is a musician, sound artist and writer. She has re- n 1821 Edvard Hoem’s great-great grandmother, Marta leased several acclaimed albums, Kristine Nesje, took the long walk from the north-wes- such as Apocalypse Girl (2015), I Blood Bitch (2016) and, most re- tern coast of Norway to Oslo to become a midwife. At cently, The Practice of Love (2019). the time she had two children, the youngest having barely She made her literary debut with turned one. When she finished her training, she walked the novel The Pearl Brewery in back, and started practicing her vocation as a midwife in 2009, and followed up with Sings

the villages and rural districts of the Romsdal Fjord for with Her Eyes in 2012. OKTOBER more than 50 years. Distrust in the first midwives was Photo: Baard Henriksen strong, leading to consequences for both Martha and her family. “A magnificent family saga … [Hoem is] a

OKTOBER There is a always a price to pay for those who brilliant storyteller, who effortlessly follow their calling. Based on historical facts, Hoem ma- transforms everyday life into emotionally kes Marta come alive with great poetic power. This is the charged stories ” story of a cotter’s daughter who didn’t want to take her — Dagbladet husband’s name and who refused to be affected by village gossip. It is also the story of the emergence of the important midwife profession. “A brilliant portrait of a woman ... an absorbing novel” GIRLS AGAINST GOD behind the classrooms of her childhood and the dark — VG southern forests. Å hate Gud Later we find ourselves in a future, but still re- Novel, 256 pages cognizable Oslo: a stinking town full of garbage, whe- Oktober 2018 re art has become superfluous. Here, a secret network Foreign rights: Swedish, World English of witches arise, carrying out subversive rituals with complete naturalness. At the same time, the narrator is writing a film script, a magical document which is irls against God is a novel about magic, writing Edvard Hoem (b. 1949) has been one of Norway’s neither writing nor image. leading literary writers since his breakthrough with and art. G Girls against God is an uncompromising, the Critics’ Prize winning novel The Ferry Crossing in The novel starts with the main character’s reflective, playful and deeply fascinating novel about 1974. He hit a new career peak in the 2010s with his youth in southern Norway in the 1990s, a part of the epic family saga set in North America and Norway in black metal and white-painted idyll, about undergro- country known for its deep religiosity and its white the decades around 1900. und movements, magic and rebellion. The narrative, wooden houses. A powerful, primitive feeling starts the essayistic and the magical is organically woven Photo: Paal Audestad growing in her: A hatred to God. In this hatred, there together into a literary text that both genre-wise and is a force which stays with her long after she has left by virtue of its content refuses to be boxed in. 54 55 MONA HØVRING MERETHE LINDSTRØM Critics’ Prize 2018 Nordic Council Literature Prize 2012 Critics' Prize 2012 BECAUSE VENUS CROSSED AN ALP VIOLET

ON THE DAY I WAS BORN his hunger, his poverty and NORTH his degradation. Fordi Venus passerte en Mona Høvring writes with impressive insight Along the way he Nord alpefiol den dagen jeg blei født about love and confusion. Because Venus Passed an Novel, 224 pages gets a companion, one who Novel, 136 pages Alp Violet on the Day I Was Born is a sharp, sensi- Oktober 2017 also carries a secret. A kind Oktober 2018 tive story about jealousy and passion, an original Foreign rights: Danish, French, Swedish of understanding arise bewe- Foreign rights: Danish, French, German, and surprising story about the many distractions en them, as they walk toget- Swedish of the heart. ordes of people are on the march, chased her through territories full of from their houses, their villages, or from both beauty and destruction. n a hotel, high up in a mountain village, two H camps. A young boy has escaped. He walks alo- North is a dark no- sisters in their early twenties will spend a few I “A shining pearl of a novel ” ne, following his compass toward the north, his vel which still contains light. winter weeks in peaceful surroundings. Martha shoulderblades protruding like wings that have It is a story with traces of fa- has just been discharged – Dagbladet been cut off. He carries with him the gaze of the bles and myths buried deep OKTOBER from a sanatorium after others, their definitions of him, together with in our collective mind. a nervous breakdown, “Mysterious, dark and courageous (…) and Ella follows her to Høvring’s prose is striking ”

OKTOBER take care of her. But at – NRK Radio the hotel, secret encounters take place and new fascinations arise. “One of contemporary Norwegian Through Ella’s literature’s most finely tuned observers confidential story, we Løyning André Photo: and portrayers of the interplay between get a look into the people who are (seemingly) close” underlying conflicts that have led the two – Morgenbladet women away from what once was a relationship based on mutual trust and devotion. Merethe Lindstrøm (b. 1963) made her debut in 1983 with a collection of short stories, and has since published a number of short stories, novels and Mona Høvring (b. 1962) has published six collections of poetry, the a children’s book. For her novel Days in the History most recent being Girl with Skull. Since her first novel, Something of Silence (2011), she was awarded both the Nordic that Helps, she has published two more acclaimed novels: The Wai- Council Literature Prize and the Critics’ Prize. ting Room in the Atlantic (2011) and Camilla’s Long Nights (2013), The latter was nominated to the Nordic Council Prize for Literature.

Photo: Agnete Brun 56 57 OKTOBER 59 Photo Hans Kristian Asbjørnsen Kristian Hans Photo Photo: Hans Fredrik Asbjørnsen Fredrik Hans Photo: – Politiken, Denmark – Politiken, “Outstanding ... Luckily, to be“Outstanding ... Luckily, to continued” is a 6-volume series of no- JON MICHELET JON Hero Sea of the vels that follow Halvor Skramstad’s ad- vels that follow Halvor Skramstad’s A ventures as a merchant sailorventures as a merchant throughout the war, from he boards his first ship as a 19 year of old in 1939, through the different phases returns the war, all over the world, until he The 1945. in ends war the when Norway to series is both a coming-of-age story, an epic, - captivating and intensely dramatic war-dra of the war itself. ma and a chronicle A HERO OF THE SEA OF THE A HERO — Forest Seaman) Skogsmatrosen (The Hero of the Sea 1) En sjøens helt 1 (A Novel, 500 pages Oktober 2012 Foreign rights: Danish As a child, Jon Michelet (b. 1944 d. 2018) was deeply fascinated fascinated deeply was 1944 d. 2018) (b. Michelet As a child, Jon of adventures stories telling the sea, from when his uncle returned years 17 his first ship, Michelet boarded In 1962, the world. all over going before 6 years, for as a seaman work to old. He continued activist. and political dock worker a journalist, become to ashore crime novel. he made his literary with a well-received debut, In 1975 of Scandinavia's one become he would followed that In the decades he his debut, after decades than three More crime writers. leading - and significa addictive a bestselling, project, his greatest launched WW2. epic from nt naval The first than 200,000 copies, of the series has sold more book The print run of all 6 bookswhile the total is 860,000 copies. The book was nominated nominated The book was in 2010. , which followed in , which followed Disintegration for the Young Readers’ Critics’ Prize. The Prize. Critics’ Readers’ Young the for novel short and was had brilliant reviews - 2013, Prize. Novel the P2 Listeners’ for listed breakthrough major a had Lykke 2016 In book, No, a Hundred Times with her third Reader’s the Young No. The book won Gon- the French (similar to Prize Critics’ the runner-up and was court des Lyceens) Book Bonnier Book Clubs' in the Swedish in 2018. Prize of the Year Nina Lykke (b. 1965) debutated with the with debutated 1965) (b. Lykke Nina short story The Orgy collection and Other Stories No, a Hundred Times No is a No, a Hundred Times teacher’s job. Jan, however, is vitali- teacher’s promotion to zed by his unexpected the government sectional director in as by the far yo- ministry – as well unger advisor Hanne, who has seen all her friends disappear into regular time to take action. family lives. It’s sharp, funny and uncomfortable novel aboutnu- of the conditions the clear family in a society where the lust of the moment is the ultimate is never too much star and guiding enough. 61,000 copies printed in Norway copies printed 61,000 Young Readers’ Critics Prize 2016 Critics Readers’ Young NINA LYKKE NINA

Finalist for the Bonnier Book Clubs’ Book of the Year 2018 Clubs’ Book of the Year for the Bonnier Book Finalist

Photo: Agnete Brun Agnete Photo:

ngrid and Jan have been married live They for a quarter of a century. with their two sons in a large house in a nice Oslo neighbourhood. The boys big enough to be are counted as adults, but they behave like hotel her illusi- lost all Ingrid has guests. ons both about family life and her

Nei og atter nei Nei og atter pages 269 Novel, 2016 Oktober rights: Danish, Finnish, Foreign - Swe Polish, German, Korean, dish I NO, A HUNDRED TIMES NO HUNDRED TIMES A NO,

58 OKTOBER PER PETTERSON “Men in My Situation is the author’s best novel since Out Stealing Horses” The Aschehoug Prize 2016, The Dobloug Prize 2016, The Gyldendal Prize – Aftenposten 2012, Nordic Council Literature Prize 2009, IMPAC Prize 2007, Prix des Lec- teurs de litt. européenne 2007, Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2006, Book- “Per Petterson’s new novel, Men in My Situa- sellers’ Prize 2012 & 2003, Brage Prize 2008 & 2000, Critics’ Prize 2008 & 2003 tion, is a brilliant, dark read. Still, a minimum of warmth and humour forces its way in … Per Petterson takes his time between books. MEN IN MY SITUATION With rights sold to more It shows in their quality” than 50 countries and Menn i min situasjon – NRK awards won all over Europe, Novel, 320 pages few Scandinavian literary Oktober 2018 writers have achieved as Sold in 21 territories “I didn’t think I needed more books about much international recog- nition as Per Petterson (b. o Arvid Jansen, life has become a silent men in crisis after a divorce. But then 1952). Tquestion of holding on to a few firm this book came along … After finishing the things. He revisits old battlefields around Petterson made his literary town, gets drunk, meets women and goes bok, this reader felt enriched and exhausted” debut in 1987 with a short home with them, or he story collection, and won OKTOBER drives around in his Maz- – Adresseavisen, 6 out of 6 Stars the Brage for his fifth book, da, where he also spends In the Wake, in 2000. A the nights when his bed massive breakthrough came becomes an impossible “Petterson writes with such intensity, preci- in 2003 with Out Stealing place to be. Horses. The novel has won A year has passed since sion and care that the story grabs you right the IMPAC prize, the In- Turid took their three dependent Foreign Fiction away. And it will not let you go. Not even daughters and left. Early Prize and several domestic one morning she calls after you finish reading. I am happy that we prizes. him from the closed railway station Bjørkelan- have Petterson. Very happy” Its follow-up, I Curse the gen. Arvid picks her up River of Time, won both – VG, 6 out of 6 stars and drives her to her new the Nordic Council Prize, home in Skjetten. But for the Brage and the Critics’ once, he refuses to give her what she asks. Prize. His latest novel, I Re- In the terrace house, there is no trace of "In Men in My Situation Per Petterson seems fuse, won the Booksellers’ their life together. He has been completely Prize and was hailed by The freer and more open than ever. The novel is wiped out. Arvid feels that Vigdis, his oldest Guardian’s reviewer as a daughter, sees what kind of man he really another zenith in a body of work that already “mesmerising achievement is. And that’s why she has had to keep her by the Norwegian master”. distance to him. But at the same time she is ensured a place in our modern prose can- might be the one who needs him the most. on” Men in My Situation is a tender, merciless – Morgenbladet portrait of a life going to pieces. 60 Photo: Baard Henriksen 61 THE BERLIN POPLARS ANNE B. RAGDE Berlinerpoplene Novel, 314 pages With more than 1,5 million copies sold in Norway, and more than 2 million Oktober 2004 sold abroad, the Neshov series is among the biggest Norwegian publishing ot your average family reunion. In the first book of her Nbest-selling series, three estranged brothers are reunited phenomenons ever. by their mother’s death bed. Her death brings up old conflicts and secrets.

When Anna Neshov suddenly suffers a stroke a week before Christmas and falls into a coma, her three sons are forced to redefine their own lives and relate to each other. Erlend works as a decorator in Copenhagen, Margido owns a small funeral parlour, and the oldest son, Tor, who is fifty-six, runs the family farm in Byneset near the city of Trondheim. The brothers haven’t seen each other for years. Tor is the only one of the three with a child: his daughter Torunn, the result of a short-lived relationship in his youth. Torunn has only met her father once before. But now Tor wants her to come and meet her grandmother before she dies.

The award-winning bestseller The Berlin Poplars is a novel about trying to tear up one’s roots, only to discover that they run much deeper than expected. It is also about suddenly uncovering roots that one never knew existed. OKTOBER Sold to 23 languages

Winner of the Brage Prize 2001 Winner of the Riksmål Prize 2004 Winner of the Booksellers’ Prize 2005 Winner of the Norwegian Readers’ Prize 2005 Nominated for the Booksellers’ Prize 2014 and 2016 Anne B. Ragde (b. 1957) made her literary The sequels The Hermit Crabs and Pastures debut in 1986 with a book for children. Her Green were equally successful. The much first novel for adults, A Tiger for an Angel loved initial trilogy has been made into a TV was published in 1990. She has since writ- series, which had more than 1 million vie- ten numerous bestselling novels, crime wers when showed on Norwegian TV. novels and short story collections. To the joy and surprise of her readers, While her popularity grew steadily with she returned to the Neshov universe with each new book, she had a massive bre- Always Forgiveness in 2016. A sixth and final akthrough with The Berlin Poplars in 2004. novel is published in 2019.

62 Photo: Lasse Berre 63 KJERSTI ANNESDATTER THE CHILD

Barnet SKOMSVOLD Novel, 123 pages Oktober 2018 Shortlisted for the IMPAC Award 2013 Sold in 8 territories

his is a love story. TA mother tells her new-born child about the events the led to the child’s birth. Her stories are about long-term illness, loneliness and grief. About being afraid to love somebody, and about daring to do it anyway.

The novel explores existence with an unsual vulnerability and an excellent eye for the things that make us able to connect to others, and the things that make it impossible. The Child was shortlisted for the Young Readers' Critics' Prize.

Praise for The Child:

“Skomsvold’s fragile, troubled novel about becoming a parent is one of the most extraordinary and at the same time most familiar books on early motherhood I have

OKTOBER read … a short and intense novel, sorrowful, raw and powerful” – Weekendavisen, Denmark

Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold (b. Monsterhuman, Skomsvold’s se- THE FASTER I WALK, 1979) is from Oslo. She made her cond novel, was shortlisted for literary debut in 2009 with the no- the P2 Listeners’ Prize. After a THE SMALLER I AM vel The Faster I Walk, The Smaller third novel, a poetry collection I Am, which won the prestigious and a children's book, she publis- Jo fortere jeg går, jo mindre er jeg Tarjei Vesaas First Book Prize, and hed The Child to great acclaim in Novel, 128 pages was nominated for the Booksel- 2018. Oktober 2009 lers’ Prize and the P2 Listeners’ Sold in 24 territories Prize. In 2013 it was shortlisted for the IMPAC/International Dublin athea Martinsen has never been good at dealing with Literary Award. Mother people. But one thing she has learned. They are not like her. Now, as an old woman, she suddenly experien- ces a great grief, and she is struck by the fear that she will die before anyone will know that she has lived. Mathea digs out her old wedding dress again, bakes some sweet cakes and goes out among the others.

Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold’s first novel stands out for its humorous earnestness and unusually inventive prose.

64 Photo: Agnete Brun 65 DAG SOLSTAD NOVEL 11, BOOK 18 Ellevte roman, bok atten “He’s a kind of surrealistic writer ... Novel, 173 pages Sold in 38 territories Oktober 1992 I think that’s serious literature” Nordic Council’s Prize for Literature 1989 – Haruki Murakami jørn Hansen, a respectable town treasu- Critics’ Prize 1969, 1992 and 1999 Brer, has just turned fifty and is horrified by the thought that chance has ruled his life. “He doesn’t write to please other Eighteen years ago he left his wife and their people ... the drama exists in his two-year-old son for his mistress, who per- Through five decades, Dag suaded him to start voice ... and that works” Solstad (b. 1941) has produced afresh in a small, – Lydia Davis works of the highest literary provincial town and quality that somehow have both interpreted and defined to dabble in amateur the changing moods of the dramatics. In time times. This sensitivity has en- that relationship also sured that in spite of the asto- faded, and after four SHYNESS AND DIGNITY nishing stylistic and thematic years of living alone unity his works show, Solstad never seems to be repeating Bjørn contempla- Genanse og verdighet himself. Always challenging, tes an extraordinary Novel, 188 pages always relevant, Dag Solstad course of action that Oktober 1994 thoroughly shows that timeles- will change his life sness is not at odds with enga- for ever. OKTOBER ging with your times. Few will he story about Elias He finds a fellow conspirator in Dr dispute his place among Rukla’s life, his uni- Schiøtz, who has a secret of his own and of- T the most important versity years, his friends- contemporary fers to help Bjørn carry his preposterous and hip to Johan Cornelius- Scandinavian dangerous plan through to its logical conclu- sen and his marriage to writers. sion. However, the sudden reappearance of the ineffably beautiful his son both fills Bjørn with new hope and Eva Linde, also contains complicates matters. The desire to gamble a critical description of with his comfortable existence proves irresis- features of the social de- tible, however, taking him to Vilnius in Lit- velopment that has ta- huania, where very soon he cannot tell whet- ken place over the past Photo: Baard Henriksen her he’s tangled up in a game or reality. decades. The despair Novel 11, Book 18 is an uncompro- “An utterly hypnotic writer” that Elias Rukla needs mising and concentrated existential novel – James Wood to express, finds no liste- that accommodates all of Dag Solstad’s fun- ners in a society where conversation has cea- damental themes, and for which he received “His language sparkles with its new old-fashioned elegance” sed to exist. the Norwegian Critics’ Prize for Literature for – Karl Ove Knausgård Shyness and Dignity was the book the second time. The story of Bjørn Hansen that gave Dag Solstad his international bre- continues in Novel 17 (2009) and Third, and «Shyness and Dignity is one of the major works of Nordic literature … Each word counts, and akthrough. It is still his most widely translated Final, novel about Bjørn Hansen (2019). even though the novel is only 188 pages long, it is encyclopedically saturated with meaning, work. references, humour, wisdom and brilliant writing” – Politiken, Denmark, 6/6 stars 66 67 THORVALD STEEN ESPEN SØBYE “I had been told that Thorvald Steen’s novel The White Bathhouse was a gem. That Named one of the 10 best Scandinavian turned out to be wrong. It is a punch right in the stomach, and I non-fiction books of the new millennium can’t remember the last time I was so moved.” — Svenska Dabladet, Sweden KATHE. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN IN NORWAY THE WHITE BATHHOUSE Kathe. I’ve Always Been in Norway Non-fiction, 165 pages Det hvite badehuset Oktober 2003 knew about, and with them diffi- Novel, 184 pages Foreign rights: German, World English cult questions come up. Oktober 2017 He lives with an inherited Foreign rights: American English, Bri- ith great care and impeccable handwriting the illness that has forced him into a tish English, Danish, Faroese, Singha- 15 year old Kathe Lasnik, student at a high wheelchair. Is the secrecy in the W lese, Swedish school in Oslo, has written down her answers to the family connected to the chromoso- questions on “Questionnaire for Jews in Norway”. me abnormality he has inherited? Answering the question “When did you arrive in Nor- t is just before Advent. He receives a Will what he has found out about way”, she has written: “I’ve always been in Norway”. phone call from an unknown woman OKTOBER I his grandfather give him insight The form is dated 16 November, 1942. Ten days later claiming that she is his cousin. There’s into his own life? she, her father, her mother and a sister are transported never been much talk of the family on his The White Bathhouse is a to the ship Donau together with 528 other Jews. 1 mother’s side. He has never known the story of origins, shame, conceal- December Kathe Lasnik is killed in the concentration OKTOBER name of his grandfather. Now he disco ment and the costs of being honest. camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Two of her sisters mana- vers new truths and relatives he never ged to escape to Sweden. Espen Søbye' sober narrative follows Kathe Lasnik’s family from her parents come from Vilnius in Lithuania as refugees to Oslo in 1908, up until the “A shocking, important and thorough story persecution, deportation and murder of this Norwegi- of investigation, where the most powerful an family. His microhistorical method runs into great story is the one that is written in the reader’s challenges, because of the attempts to exterminate the mind as she book moves from everyday life entire family; all of their possessions, photographies and papers were destroyed. towards catastrophe.” – Aftenposten

Thorvald Steen (b. 1954) has been praised internationally for his both gritty and intelle- Espen Søbye (b. 1954) is mag. art. in philosophy, and has worked at Statistics ctually sophisticated histori- Norway since 1985. He made his debut as a writer in 1992 with the book No cal novels. At home he is equ- Way Home. He has since published a number of non-fiction books, among ally respected and loved for them Movement of the Crowd. Norway’s Population 1735-2014. Søbye was vo- his moving contemporary noted Literary Critic of the Year in 2006 and received Olav Dalgard’s Critic Pri- vels, most notably The White ze for his work as a non-fiction critic in 2013. In 2018 Kathe. I’ve Always Been Bathhouse (2017) and The Last In Norway was named one of the ten best Scandinavian non-fiction books Photograph (2019). Steen's published after the year 2000. works have been published in 40 countries. Photo: Finn Ståle Felberg

68 Photo: Trine Hisdal 69 HANNE ØRSTAVIK THE PASTOR Shortlisted for the US National Book Award 2018, Presten “In a just way, but without being dry, Novel, 240 pages Brage Prize 2004, Dobloug Prize 2002, Sult Prize 1999 Oktober 2004 Ørstavik writes out feelings and masters Foreign rights: American English, Czech, Danish, with originality both content and form in Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Latvian, Polish, Russian, Swedish a novel about searching for the meaning of life.” iv is thirty-five years old. A year before the – Le Monde, France Lstory begins, she left Germany, where she was studying for a PhD in theology, to become a parish priest of a small town in the far north of ”Hanne Ørstavik’s style is very special. It Norway. The novel opens with a Sunday service, is extremely precise, extremely pure, and and subsequently fol- yet an almost ethereal climate is estab- lows Liv’s life in the next few days, culmi- lished. History, literature and the existen- nating in the funeral tial quest of a woman who has lost love, she officiates on the are united in a way that is impressive.” following Friday. – Devoir, France

Liv fills OKTOBER multiple roles and functions in her life; “A masterpice from the far north (…) as a priest, a fellow

OKTOBER Written in a crystal-clear, squiggle-free human being and a private person. She prose.” is driven by an urge – Wochenblatt Marsch & Heide, for purpose, meaning Germany and belonging. As a researcher she stu- OKTOBER BACKLIST OKTOBER died the language of “Everyone has a dark place in life, a place the Bible as a rallying point in the revolt of the they shun. Being completely true to Sami people in Kautokeino in 1852, focusing on oneself is incredibly difficult, and Hanne the question of what it is that gives language its With the publication of the novel Cut The Pastor and There Is a Wide Open Ørstavik knows how to emphasize this in in 1994, Hanne Ørstavik (b. 1969) em- Square in Bordeaux, which was named meaning – not only on a semantic level, but also barked on a career that would make one of the 10 best translated books of as tone, rhythm and attitude – all the things that a brilliant way” her one of the most remarkable and ad- 2014 in the Danish newspaper Berling- shape a language, constituting something larger, – NDR1 Bücherwelt, Germany mired authors in Norwegian contempo- ske. Ørstavik’s works have been trans- something more. Liv’s reflections and recollecti- rary literature. lated into more than 20 languages. ons give the story its impetus and unify its various levels. “I think this writer deserves all the prizes Ørstavik’s breakthrough came in 1997 Through 10 novels Ørstavik has followed In The Pastor, Hanne Ørstavik continues and success she has received” with the publication of Love (1997), a path which is very much her own, of- which was named the 6th best Norwe- ten provoking fierce debate along the the pursuit of knowledge that represents the core – Information, Denmark gian book of the last 25 years in a pres- way. Her personal, urgent, yet unman- of her literary project. In a clear, incisive prose tigious critics’ vote in 2006. Other high- nered style is instantly recognizable and she generates a sense of presence that gives direct lights include the Brage winning novel much imitated. access to the novel’s ethical and existential universe. 70 Photo: Linda B. Engelbert 71 LARS AMUND VAAGE Winner of the Brage Prize 2012 Shortlisted for the Critics’ Prize 2012

Sing “A heartbreakingly beautiful, vulnerable and wise novel Syngja Novel, 240 pages about being the parent of an Oktober 2012 autistic child” Foreign rights: Swedish – VG he person I am writing this to cannot read. TShe cannot write, and not talk either, although the top experts in the country have tried teaching her for many years. Some words came Lars Amund Vaage (b. 1952) made his literary debut in along, and she did put them into use, but then 1979 with the novel Exercise Cold Winter, and has since they crumbled in her mouth. She used them published books in a great variety of genres. In 1995 he differently than other people. She pronounced had a definite breakthrough in Norway With the Critics’ the words correctly, but didn’t know what they Prize winning novel Rubato. In 2012, his acclaimed novel meant. She tasted them, Sing was a national bestseller, after winning the nati- sang them, tossed them onal Brage Prize and being nominated for the Critics’ Prize. around, so that they star- OKTOBER ted to mean everything and nothing, and then they got mixed with her other sounds, got lost in her play with her tongue and her vocal chords, di- sappeared into the howl and the mumbling, and

Photo: Hans Jørgen Brun Jørgen Hans Photo: we didn’t hear them again. As a young man he worked as a bus driver and dreamt of becoming a writer. One day, a girl stepped on to the bus. She looked at him in the mirror. When she got off, he left the bus in order to follow her. Now, their daughter has grown up and he is an established writer. Can he finally write the novel about her? Sing is a beautiful, deeply personal novel about life with a daughter who has autism. It is an attempt to write her story, and centers on how difficult that is, but also how important it is to understand a girl who cannot be understood.

72 NOTES NOTES Even Råkil, Rights Director Fiction & Non-Fiction [email protected]

Annette Orre, Agent Literary Fiction [email protected]

Henrik Francke, Agent Forlaget Oktober / Literary Fiction [email protected]

Evy Tillman, Agent Children & Young Adults [email protected]

Evin Sigrun Kalef, Contract Manager [email protected]

Oslo Literary Agency, Sehesteds gate 3, P. O. Box 363 Sentrum, N-0102 Oslo, Norway osloliteraryagency.no