Ola Bauer
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Ola Bauer (24 July 1943 – 12 June 1999) was a Norwegian novelist and playwright. He made his literary debut with the novel ''Graffiti'' in 1976, under the pseudonym Jo Vendt. Among his best known books are ''Humlehjertene'' (1980), ''Rosapenna'' (1983), and ''Metoden'' (1985). Bauer was awarded
Gyldendal's Endowment The Gyldendal Prize, formerly Gyldendal's Endowment, is a Norwegian literary prize awarded by the Norway, Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. Gyldendal's Endowment was awarded from 1934 to 1995. It was superseded by the Gyldendal Prize in ...
in 1982, and the
Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize (, ) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. The prize sum is 4 * 150,000 Swedish crow ...
in 1998. He died of cancer in 1999.


Early life

Bauer was born 24 July 1943 in Holmenkollåsen,
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
, during the
German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...
. His father was a baker, and an active member of the
Norwegian resistance movement The Norwegian resistance (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Motstandsbevegelsen'') to the German occupation of Norway, occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms: *As ...
. In 1943, he was arrested, while the rest of the family went undercover in
Hadeland Hadeland () is a traditional district in the southeastern part of Norway. It is centered on the southern part of the large lake Randsfjorden in Innlandet and Akershus counties. The district consists of the municipalities Gran in Innlandet cou ...
. Bauer's father was eventually deported to the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...
, where he died three months before the end of the war. Bauer's family continuously moved from place to place, and Bauer had a hard time adjusting to the changes, and finding friends. He found himself consistently making friends with children of traitors, those who had supported the Germans during the war. "We were all innocent children, who had to pay for our fathers' choices. We could understand each other", Bauer later said. He used to make up stories about his father's death, a new version for every new place his family moved. He graduated from Oslo Språkskole in 1965, on his second attempt, "with a D in Norwegian, as usual". Bauer started his literary career translating short stories from Danish to Norwegian for '' Allers''. He quickly advanced to becoming sports reporter for '' Det Nye'', and later a traveling journalist for '' Vi Menn''. He stayed in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
for more than a year in the late 1960s, and later traveled around Africa. From 1972 on he made frequent visits to
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
, and made many friends there.


Literary career

Bauer had grown up with the notion that his father was a war hero, having died as a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
. As an adult, he learned that his father had in fact died of
methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical compound and the simplest aliphatic Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with the chemical formula (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often ab ...
poisoning, having gotten hold of what he thought was alcohol. In his
autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
debut novel, ''Graffiti'' (1976), Bauer confronted his mother with the fact that she had kept this secret from him. "I grew up in a lie about a man I have never known", he commented. Because of the novel's contents, one of his relatives insisted that he publish it under a pseudonym, to protect his mother. Despite "having nothing to hide imelf", he therefore released the novel under the
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Jo Vendt. ''Graffiti'' was very well received by critics. Roar Petersen of ''
Verdens Gang (), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...
'' noted the poetic quality of many of the passages in the novel.
Johan Borgen Johan Collett Müller Borgen (28 April 1902 – 16 October 1979) was a Norwegian writer, journalist and critic. His best-known work is the novel ''Lillelord'' for which he was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1955. He wa ...
described the debut as "measuring 7.3 on the Richter earthquake scale". Bauer published the freestanding sequel to ''Graffiti'', ''Bulk'' (1978), under his own name. The novel depicts a young man returning to Oslo after spending some time at sea. Alcoholism is a central theme, both the protagonist and his mother are portrayed as heavy drinkers. His next novel, ''
Humlehjertene ''Humlehjertene'' () is a novel published in 1980 by the Norwegian writer Ola Bauer. The narrator travels to Paris, falls in love with the Finnish girl "Marja", and ends up on the barricades with paving stones in his hands. As a former journalis ...
'' (1980), depicts the protagonist's stay in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
from 1967 to 1969, where he becomes involved in the May 1968 student riots. The novel was heavily based on Bauer's own experiences from Paris during the same period. "I suppose every writer actually writes about themselves", he told ''Verdens Gang''.
The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
would become the topic of '' Rosapenna'' (1983), named after a street in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
. Bauer felt that the Norwegian press was giving a one-sided picture of The Troubles, something he wanted to correct. To get the necessary distance to the source material, he decided to let the novel take place in 1973. Bauer himself arrived in Belfast in 1972, shortly after the Bloody Sunday, as a journalist for ''Vi Menn''. He became an eyewitness to the bombing of the Abercorn restaurant in Castle Lane. Bauer could not believe the IRA was responsible for the bombing, and defended them in ''Vi Menn''. He eventually became closely involved with the IRA. "England is to blame for the conflict in Northern Ireland. The antagonism is based on economic differences ... this is not a religious war", Bauer said in an interview shortly after the release of ''Rosapenna''. Bauer's 1985 novel ''Metoden'' introduced the protagonist Bo Brandt, the son of a wealthy, alcoholized,
ship-owner A shipowner, ship owner or ship-owner is the owner of a ship. They can be merchant vessels involved in the sea transport, shipping industry or non commercially owned. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and expl ...
. The novel serves both as a
crime thriller Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...
and a psychological study. Bauer's last novels would revolve around Tom, who starts out as a ten-year-old in ''Hestehodetåken'' (1992), and returns as a teenager in ''Svartefot'' (1995), and a twenty-year-old in ''Magenta'' (1997). Bauer referred to the books as "a reluctant trilogy". In the fourth novel in the series, ''Forløperen'' (1999), Tom returns to Norway after spending forty years traveling abroad. The book was finished while Bauer was terminally ill, and released posthumously. Aside from his novels, Bauer was also a
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...
. Two of his plays, ''Vesper'' (1987) and ''Brendan'' (1993), depict the conflict in Northern Ireland.


Death and legacy

Bauer died 12 June 1999, having been diagnosed with cancer one and a half years before then. Bauer had been involved in a dramatic television production, ''Jakttid'', but as his condition worsened, he prioritized finishing his last novel, ''Forløperen''. It was published 26 August 1999. Three years later, an
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...
was published in Bauer's honor. ''Bauers bok'', edited by Lars Saabye Christensen, contained contributions by among others Christensen,
Kjartan Fløgstad Kjartan Fløgstad (born 7 June 1944) is a Norwegian author. Fløgstad was born in the industrial city of Sauda in Ryfylke, Rogaland. He studied literature and linguistics at the University of Bergen. Subsequently, he worked for a period as an ...
, Espen Haavardsholm,
Per Petterson Per Petterson (born 18 July 1952 in Oslo) is a Norwegian novelist. His debut book was ''Aske i munnen, sand i skoa'' (1987), a collection of short stories. He has since published a number of novels with good reviews. ''To Siberia'' (1996), set i ...
, Dag Solstad, and Tove Nilsen. He was described by Solstad as extremely well-read, being particularly interested in authors like
Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( ; ), was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel '' Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the ' ...
and
Jean Genet Jean Genet (; ; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels '' The Th ...
. In the anthology, Petterson compared Bauer's protagonists to
Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison", and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher in the Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He is most famous f ...
of ''
The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is the only novel by American author J. D. Salinger. It was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its theme ...
'', a novel important to Bauer. Bauer was survived by his wife Anne Gun, and his daughter, Anya Bauer Hartmark, born in 1972. Bauer had wanted her to be named "Mulele", after
Pierre Mulele Pierre Mulele (11 August 1929 – 3 or 9 October 1968) was a Congolese rebel active in the Kwilu rebellion of 1964. Mulele had also been minister of education in Patrice Lumumba's cabinet. With the assassination of Lumumba in January 1961 a ...
, and Bauer and his friends would refer to her using the nickname Mulle as a tribute to the Congolese revolutionary.


Bibliography


Novels

*''Graffiti'' (1976) *''Bulk'' (1978) *''Humlehjertene'' (1980) *''Rosapenna'' (1983) *''Metoden'' (1985) *''Løvetemmersken'' (1988) *''Hestehodetåken'' (1992) *''Svartefot'' (1995) *''Magenta'' (1997) *''Forløperen'' (1999)


Plays

*''Mellomkrig'' (1986) *''Vesper'' (1987) *''Brendan'' (1993) *''Mater'' (1994)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer, Ola 1943 births 1999 deaths Dobloug Prize winners 20th-century Norwegian novelists 20th-century Norwegian dramatists and playwrights Norwegian male dramatists and playwrights Norwegian male novelists