Roy Jacobsen (born 26 December 1954) is a Norwegian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

and short-story writer. Born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

, he made his publishing début in 1982 with the short-story collection ''Fangeliv'' (Prison Life), which won Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris. He is winner of The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature and two of his novels have been nominated for The Nordic Council's Literature Prize: ''Seierherrene'' (The Conquerors) in 1991 and ''Frost'' in 2004. ''The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles'' was published in Britain in 2008. Jacobsen lives in

Early life and authorship

Jacobsen grew up in a suburb of Oslo located in the

Groruddalen The Grorud Valley ( no, Groruddalen) is a valley and urban area or suburb in the northeastern part of Oslo, the capital of Norway. Four of Oslo's boroughs lie within the Grorud Valley; Bjerke to the west, Alna to the south, Grorud to the north, ...

valley. In his teens, Jacobsen was a member of the criminal " Årvoll gang". At age 16 he was arrested by the police and kept in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use addit ...

for 35 days. He was subsequently convicted of among other things weapons offences and theft, and given a six-month suspended sentence. He has held a number of occupations, even subsequent to his debut as a novelist in 1982. Since 1990 he has been a full-time author. From 1979 to 1986 he lived at his mother's homestead at Solfjellsjøen in the municipality of

Dønna Dønna is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland region. The administrative centre of the island municipality is the village of Solfjellsjøen. Other villages include Bjørn, Dønnes, Hestad, Sandåker, and V ...

in the northern Norwegian county of

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, ...

, and both the background of his mother as well as his own upbringing in Groruddalen were central themes of his breakthrough novel ''Seierherrene'' from 1991. He is a member of the

Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature ( no, Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the modern Norwegian language in its Dano-Norwegian ...

Bibliography

*''Fangeliv'' - short stories (1982) *''Hjertetrøbbel'' -

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

(1984) *''Tommy'' - novel (1985) *''Det nye vannet'' - novel (1987) (English 1997: ''The new water'') *''Virgo'' - novel (1988) *''Det kan komme noen'' - short stories (1989) *''Ursula'' - barnebok (1990) *''Seierherrene'' - novel (1991) *''Fata Morgana'' - novel (1992) *''Den høyre armen'' - short stories (1994) *''Trygve Bratteli. En fortelling'' - biography of

Trygve Bratteli (11 January 1910 – 20 November 1984) was a Norwegian newspaper editor and politician with the Norwegian Labour Party. He served as the 26th prime minister of Norway from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1973 to 1976. He was president of the N ...

(1995) *''Ismael'' - novel (1998) *''Grenser'' - novel (1999) (English 2015: ''Borders'') *''Fugler og soldater'' - short stories (2001) *''Det nye vinduet'' - short stories (2002) *''Frost'' - novel (2003) *''Hoggerne'' - novel (2005) (English 2007: ''The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles'') *''Marions slør'' - novel (2007) *''Vidunderbarn'' - novel (2009) (English 2011: ''Child Wonder'') *''De Usynlige'' - novel (2013) (English 2016: ''The Unseen'') *''Hvitt hav'' - novel (2015) (English 2019: ''White Shadow'') *''Rigels øyne'' - novel (2017) (English 2020: ''Eyes of the Rigel'')

Prizes

* Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris 1982, for ''Fangeliv'' * Cappelen Prize 1987 * Notabeneprisen 1988 * Kritikerprisen 1989, for ''Det kan komme noen'' *

Bokhandlerprisen The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize (''Bokhandlerprisen'') is a literature prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Booksellers Association after voting among all who work in Norwegian bookstores. The prize is awarded for one of the year's books in ...

1991, for ''Seierherrene'' * Scheiblers legat 1991 *

Ivar Lo-prisen Ivar (Old Norse ''Ívarr'') is a Scandinavian masculine given name. Another variant of the name is Iver, which is more common in Norway. The Old Norse name has several possible etymologies. In North Germanic phonology, several of the elements c ...

1994 * Oslo bys kunstnerpris 1994 * Riksmålsforbundets litteraturpris 2003 *

Gyldendalprisen Gyldendal's Endowment was a literature prize which was awarded in the period 1934–1995 by the Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The prize was awarded to significant authors, regardless of which publisher the author was associated w ...

2005 * Ungdommens kritikerpris 2006

References

External links

Publisher's profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobsen, Roy 1954 births Living people Writers from Oslo 20th-century Norwegian novelists 21st-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian biographers Male biographers Gang members Norwegian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Norway Members of the Norwegian Academy Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners Norwegian male novelists 20th-century Norwegian male writers 21st-century Norwegian male writers