Kjell Askildsen (30 September 1929 – 23 September 2021) was a Norwegian writer probably best known for his minimalistic short stories.
Personal life
Askildsen was born in
Mandal
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
as a son of bailiff and politician
Arne Askildsen (1898–1982) and Aasta Håverstad (1898–1978).
Before the Second World War his father was the bailiff of Mandal and
Halse og Harkmark from 1928, a board member of the
Norwegian Lutheran Mission since 1939, and also a member of the school board and city council.
During the war and
occupation of Norway, his father was imprisoned in
Arkivet twice, before escaping to Sweden in 1944.
[ Two older brothers of Kjell Askildsen were held captive in Grini concentration camp.]Independent Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany
The Independent Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany ( no, Tysklandsbrigaden, 'the Germany Brigade') was a Norwegian expeditionary force stationed in the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany, from 1946 to 1953. At first it was based in the Hanov ...
. He was married to a German woman for some time.[ From August 1951 to March 1968 he was married to Edith Dorothea Mathiessen, and from June 1992 he was married to Gina Giertsen.][
Askildsen died on 23 September 2021, at the age of 91.
]
Writing career
His first book, the short story collection ''Heretter følger jeg deg helt hjem'' (1953), raised controversy, especially in Mandal, for its sexual content.Oddvar Bull Tuhus
Oddvar Bull Tuhus (born 14 December 1940) is a Norwegian film director, script writer and television worker. His film debut was ''Rødblått paradis'' from 1971. His ''Maria Marusjka'' from 1973 was awarded the Norwegian Film Critics' Prize. His ...
and starring Peter Lindgren.
From 1982 on, all of Askildsen's published books have been short story collections. It is mainly these books that made him one of the most acclaimed modern writers in Norway. ''Thomas F's siste nedtegnelser til almenheten'' (1983) won him the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature. In 2006, a jury appointed by the newspaper '' Dagbladet'' voted that collection the best prose book written in Norway during the last 25 year
He has won other awards as well, almost one for each new publication.
Norwegian bibliography
Short story collections
* 1953 - ''Heretter følger jeg deg helt hjem'' (''From now on I'll walk you all the way Home'')
* 1966 - ''Kulisser'' (''Stage Sets'')
* 1982 - ''Ingenting for ingenting'' (''Nothing for Nothing'')
* 1983 - ''Thomas F's siste nedtegnelser til almenheten'' (''Thomas F's Last Notes to the Public'')
* 1987 - ''En plutselig frigjørende tanke'' (''A Sudden Liberating Thought'')
* 1991 - ''Et stort øde landskap'' (''A Great Deserted Landscape'')
* 1996 - ''Hundene i Tessaloniki'' (''The Dogs of Thessaloniki'')
* 1999 - ''Samlede noveller'' (''Collected Short Stories'')
* 2005 - ''Alt som før'' (''Everything As Before'')
* 2015 - ''Vennskapets pris'' (''The Cost of Friendship'')
Novels
* 1955 - ''Herr Leonard Leonard'' (''Mister Leonard Leonard'')
* 1957 - ''Davids bror'' (''The brother of David'')
* 1969 - ''Omgivelser'' (''Scenery'')
* 1974 - ''Kjære, kjære Oluf'' (''Dear, dear Oluf'')
* 1976 - ''Hverdag'' (''Everyday'')
Awards and prizes (selection)
*2010
Sørlandet Honorary Award
*2009 – Swedish Academy Nordic Prize
The Nordic Prize (''Swedish'': nordiska pris) is a literary award presented annually by the Swedish Academy. The recipient is someone from the Nordic countries who has done significant work in any of the Academy's areas of operations or interests. ...
*2004 – Det Norske Akademis Pris til minne om Thorleif Dahl
*1997 – Oktober Prize
Oktober may refer to:
* Forlaget Oktober, a Norwegian publishing house;
*Oktober, a character in '' The Quiller Memorandum'';
* Oktober (TV series), a British television series;
* Oktober Guitars
Oktober may refer to:
*Forlaget Oktober
Forlaget ...
*1996 – Brage Prize
The Brage Prize (Norwegian: ''Brageprisen'') is a Norwegian literature prize that is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation (''Den norske bokprisen''). The prize recognizes recently published Norwegian literature.
The Brage Priz ...
Honorary Award
*1995 – Dobloug Prize
*1991 – Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature for ''Et stort øde landskap''
*1991 – Aschehoug Prize
*1987 – Riksmål Society Literature Prize
*1983 – Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature for ''Thomas Fs siste nedtegnelser til allmennheten''
*1969 – Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment
* Ikaros-prisen
References
Kjell Askildsen
s biography and foreign publishers a
Aschehoug AgencyKjell Askildsen
a
Forlaget Oktober
External links
The Resistance Came to Stay. An interview with Kjell Askildsen
Video by Louisiana Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Askildsen, Kjell
1929 births
2021 deaths
People from Mandal, Norway
20th-century Norwegian novelists
Norwegian male short story writers
Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners
Dobloug Prize winners
20th-century Norwegian short story writers
20th-century Norwegian male writers
Norwegian expatriates in Sweden