Kurt Aust is a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

for Kurt Østergaard (born 6 December 1955 in Ikast, Denmark), a Danish-Norwegian author and freelance writer.Kurt Aust in Manager Alex
/ref> Østergaard trained as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. He has been living in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

in Norway since 1982. Østergaard debuted using the name Aust as a novelist in 1999. Prior to this, he had written the script for a historically based cartoon on the slave ship Fredensborg. He has written several historical crime novels based on

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...

around the beginning of the 18th century. The main characters in these novels are Professor Thomas af Boueberg of Copenhagen University and his Dr. Watson equivalent, the considerably less brilliant Norwegian Petter Hortten. In 2006 he published his first contemporary novel, the thriller ''De usynlige brødre'' (''The Invisible Brothers'') (translated into 8 languages) and his first children's book ''Kasper & Måns. Den store kaosdagen'' (''Kasper & Måns. The Great Day of Chaos''). Kurt Østergaard is married to the artist Kin Wessel (Ann-Carin Wessel). She has co-illustrated the cartoon about Fredensborg and the children's book ''Kasper & Måns. Den store kaosdagen. ''

Bibliography

*1997: ''Slaveskipet Fredensborg'' (cartoons, with Kin Wessel and Leif Salvesen) *1999: ''Vredens dag'' (''Day of Wrath'') *2001: ''Den tredje sannhet'' (''The Third Truth'', crime novel) *2003: ''Hjemsøkt '' (''Afflicted'', crime novel) *2004: ''Kongefrykt'' (''A King's Fear'', crime novel) *2006: ''De usynlige brødre'' (''The Invisible Brothers'', crime novel) *2006: ''Kasper & Måns. Den store kaosdagen'' (''Kasper & Måns. The Great Day of Chaos'', children's book, with Kin Wessel) *2008: ''Kaos og øyeblikkets renhet'' (''Chaos and the Purity of the Moment'', crime novel) *2009: ''Hevnens alkymi'' (''The Alchemy of Revenge'') *2010: ''Symboler & demoner'' (''Symbols and Demons'')

Awards

* Aschehougs Debutant Endowment 1999, for ''Vredens dag'' * Riverton Prize 2003, for ''Hjemsøkt'' * Glass Key award 2004, for ''Hjemsøkt'' * Sølvkniven - Randaberg crimeprize 2019, for ''Udyr''

External links

Kurt Aust at Aschehoug AgencyKurt Aust at Aschehoug Publishing House
* (Norwegian)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aust, Kurt 1955 births Living people People from Ikast-Brande Municipality Norwegian crime fiction writers 20th-century Norwegian novelists 21st-century Norwegian novelists Danish emigrants to Norway Danish crime fiction writers Writers of historical mysteries 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers