contents · the father, who had carried the girl in his arms the whole way, sank to his knees and...

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gyldendal litteratur gl

high l igh t s , f ic t ion /// 002

Tomas Espedal, Gaute Heivoll, Levi Henriksen, Helene Uri

h igh l igh t s , c r i m e f ic t ion /// 010

Jørgen Brekke, Thomas Enger, Jørn Lier Horst

nov e l s , shor t s t or i e s ,

p oe t ry /// 016

Cecilie Enger, Marianne Fastvold, Nikolaj Frobenius, Jan Grue, Gunnar Bjørnå Høgstmyr, Øivind Hånes, Heidi Linde, Annette Mattsson, Pål Gerhard Olsen, Edy Poppy, Ingvild Hedemann Rishøi, Thea Selliaas Thorsen, Øyvind Rimbereid, Jan Erik Vold

c r i m e f ic t ion a n d

t h r i l l e r s /// 0 30

Anita Berglund, Knut Faldbakken, Kurt Hanssen, Olav William Rokseth, Kjetil Try

b ac k l is t, f ic t ion /// 0 35

Kjartan Fløgstad, Johan Harstad, Hans Herbjørnsrud, Trude Marstein, Lars Mytting, Gunnar Staalesen, Tarjei Vesaas, Knut Hamsun

b ac k l is t, non-f ic t ion /// 0 45

Laila Bokhari, Regine Stokke, Thor Gotaas

kol on /// 0 48

Ari Behn, Olav R. Øyehaug, Gunnhild Øyehaug, Pedro Carmona-Alvarez, Tina Åmodt , Jonny Halberg

CONTENTS

002 /// gyldendal litteratur highlights, fiction

novel | imot naturen | 164 pages | publication date: september 2011

tomas espedalAgainst Nature

In contemporary Norwegian fiction, Tomas Espedal’s

work stands out as uniquely bound up with the author’s

personal experiences. Tramp (2006) introduced us to

the wanderer Tomas. Against Art (2009) is a novel that

focuses on the author; on how a boy approaches art and

eventually becomes a writer. It is about the profession of

writing, about routines, responsibility and obstacles.

Against Nature is an examination of manual labour,

love’s labour, the labour of writing. Labour in order to

live in compliance with society and nature. But what

is natural, and why is the narrator drawn towards the

impossible, towards impossible love, books, myths, ta-

boos? He reads the story of Abélard and Héloïse, about

young Marguerite Duras and her Chinese lover, and rea-

lizes that he, too, is turning into one of those who live

against nature.

tomas e s p e d a l (born 1961) made his debut in 1988. A graduate of the University of Bergen, he has published both novels and short prose collec-tions. In 1991 he won an award from the joint Radio P2/Book Club Novelists´ competition for She and I. Founder of the Bergen International Poetry Festival, Espedal’s later works explore the relationship between the novel and other

genres such as essays, letters, diaries, autobiographies and travelogue. Espedal’s Tramp (Or the art of living a wild and poetic life) (2006) and Against Art (2009) have been nomi-nated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. The author was awarded the Literary Critics’ Prize in 2009.

“Tomas Espedal has a personally centred literary project that he pursues and expands with fas-

cinating force and consistency”. Stavanger Aftenblad

“Espedal’s writig sparkles, ...”Aftenposten

gyldendal litteratur /// 003highlights, fiction

Excerpt :

I’m beginning to grow old; I don’t recognise myself. It has always fascinated me, this

image of age: the old man and the young girl. I don’t know what it reminds me of, a crime,

perhaps, or nature, the brutality and violence of nature, its innocence. You can’t tell who

the guilty party is, the man sitting in the chair, or the woman sitting above him, on his lap,

in her low-cut, black party frock.

The white skin and the old face, coarse and creased, resting against the naked young

breast.

The firm, pale breasts lifted by a taut bra. A perfect curve. The white curve of the throat

and breasts; how good the old face looks against the smooth skin. He rests. He is content.

He’s sitting in a chair. She’s sitting on his lap; he rests his head on her white breast.

Translator: james s . anderson

foreign s ales in previous work: Denmark: Batzer & Co. Czech Rep.: Havran France: Actes Sud UK, USA, India: Seagull Spain: Lengua de Trapo, Siruela Germany: Matthes & Seitz Italy: Ponte alle Grazie /Mauri Spagnol Georgia: Ustari Publishing

004 /// tiden norsk forlag highlights, fiction

novel | kongens hjerte | 229 pages | publication date: september 2011

gaute heivollThe King’s Heart

A new novel by the author of Before I Burn, last year’s

literary success with sales of translation rights to eighteen

countries

A father and daughter are transported on a sailing boat.

The girl is stricken with fever, and has sores around

her neck and lower abdomen. With them are ten other

sufferers. The year is 1775, and they are going to Copen-

hagen, to King Frederik’s Hospital, to be cured of the epi-

demic that has taken so many lives. But the crossing is

not with out danger, and the longer the voyage takes, the

more the insanity increases among the patients. Meanw-

hile the father is witness to his daughter being slowly

but surely consumed by the illness from inside. He has

lost his wife and another child previously. He has only

her left. Will she survive?

The King’s Heart is a compact, intense human drama.

gau te heiv o ll (born 1978) is a prolific and varied aut-hor. He has written novels, short stories, poems and children’s books. In 2010 he broke through with Før jeg brenner ned [Before I Burn], which won the Brage Prize the same year and was sold to eighteen countries. The King’s Heart is Heivoll’s fifth novel.

Praise for Before I Burn: “The sensation of the autumn? ...

this one is unbeatable.”Dagbladet

“A relentlessly exciting and won-derfully told story...» Dagsavisen

«A bold visual narrator ...” Aftenposten

tiden norsk forlag /// 005highlights, fiction

Excerpt:

They arrived late at night. The doors were thrust open, the lamps inside swung wildly, and

the father, who had carried the girl in his arms the whole way, sank to his knees and placed

her on the palliasse in the dark room. The lensmann, who had fetched them, shook his hat,

scattering water everywhere, whereafter he vanished in the darkness with his officers, all

with their lanterns raised like ancient weapons.

The father said her name, how old she was, where they came from and everything was

duly noted in the record book as water dripped from his hair and beard. He glanced over

at the German doctor, who was still standing in the murk next to the door, the rain glin-

ting off him, then he looked at the girl who was lying limply on the straw mattress, and

he rubbed his frozen hands together, pressed them against his stomach beneath his wet

clothes, as movement and warmth gradually returned. He leaned over her, moved the hair

from her forehead, and loosened the plaited belt around her waist, then he pulled her left

arm through the sleeve of the dress, then her right, and both arms flopped to the ground.

He took no notice of Deegen, or any of the others standing around him with flickering

lanterns. He knelt into a grotto of light and concentrated on her hands, on her fingers. He

crouched behind her back, mumbling short, indistinct utterances. She did not answer, but

he knew she could hear him. He managed to sit her up with her head supported by his

shoulder, and in this way was able to pull the dress over her stomach and chest and finally

tug it over her head. Translator: don bartlet t

foreign s ales for Before I Bu rn Brasil: L&PM EditoresCzech Republic: MottoDenmark: Rosinante & Co.Finland: WSOYFrance: Lattés – HachetteGermany: Schöffling & Co.Iceland: Mál & Menning Israel: ModanItaly: MarsilioThe Netherlands: MouriaPoland: SwiatRussia: Corpus

Spain: Salamandra (Spanish rights) Spain: Edicions Proal-Grup 62 (Catalan rights)Sweden: NorstedtsTurkey: Can Yaymlari UK: Atlantic Press (World English rights)USA: Graywolf Press

Awarded the Hunger Prize 2011


novel | dagen skal komme med blå vind | 334 pages | publication date: september 2011

levi henriksenRiding the Blue Wind

Award-winning author of short stories and novels, with a

wide and loyal readership

Mikael Hildonen has tried without success. He sits at his

old kitchen table, sipping coffee and studying the clouds

over Austberget. Mikael knows one thing for a fact: Ine is

dead, and he will never get her back. And the same goes

for the child she was carrying.

And then life’s wheel starts to grind: Mikael is forced

to take care of thirteen year old Daniela, his brother’s

unwanted daughter. But first he has to shake off a few

debt collectors riding heavy motorbikes. They want all

the money he doesn’t have … and they know where Da-

niela lives.

Levi Henriksen has written a new Skogli novel about

family secrets, rivalry between brothers and about op-

ting to give love a second chance.

lev i he n r i k s e n

When his first short story col-lection Fever was published in 2002, Henriksen immediately captured the public’s imagi-nation with his unique and charismatic voice. This was followed in 2003 by Down, Down, Down, a further selec-tion of short stories. His break-through came in 2004 with his novel Snow Will Fall on Fallen Snow. This soon became a bestseller and was awarded

The Booksellers’ Prize. Henriksen’s trademark is a ca-pacity for combining a strong, at times aggressive, mas cu-line voice with vulnerability. In 2009 followed the novel East of the Rain. In 2010, the prize-winning director, Bent Hamer, released a feature film, Home for Christmas, based on Henriksen’s short stories, to critical acclaim and full houses.


Excerpt from the first page:

The slam of the front door caused the old family clock to stop striking between the fifth

and sixth stroke. Mikael Hildonen felt his father’s heavy hand come down on his shoulder,

and the intrusion jolted him into an impulse to shake himself free.

“Wait Mikael, not now, don’t make things even worse,” said his father.

Down in the courtyard Daniela tried to tear herself loose from the woman holding her,

and turned to face the living room window with a movement showing more defiance than

helplessness. For a moment Mikael thought his niece might manage to run back into the

house, but then the driver came over, and together they managed to force the girl into the

backseat of the car.

Mikael took a step back from the window, and his father’s hand squeezed his shoulder

hard. A smell of mothballs flew up from the tweed of his best jacket.

The car door slammed shut, and a flap of the driver’s jacket was left hanging on the outside

like a broken bird’s wing. As the Volvo spun away over the gravel, Mikael hoped that the

material would get caught on something, so that the driver’s head would be thrown against

the windscreen with the same noise as when a rock hits the first ice of autumn.

But the car just continued straight ahead, past his mother’s freshly turned vegetable

garden, past the old dog kennel and out through the gate. Mikael couldn’t bear to look di-

rectly at the car; he couldn’t cope with the sight of Daniela’s shoulders and head framed in

the back window. Instead, he found a patch of the evening sky, reddening over the birches

in the driveway. The branches were almost naked of leaves and the trees had something

strangely shipwrecked about them. Mikael closed his eyes and stood motionless until the

sound of the engine died away somewhere on the slopes down towards the village.

Translator: debor ah dawkin

foreign s ales (of previous work) Denmark: Batzer & Co. Sweden: Kabusa Finland: Johnny Kinga-WSOY Germany: BTB- RH France: Place des Editeurs/France Loisirs USA: a number of short stories represented on WordsWithout Borders


novel | kjerringer | 460 pages | publication date: spring 2011

helene uriBitches

The celebrated and bestselling Helene Uri has written a

new novel

Men. What do you do when your boss takes all the

credit for your work? When your university colleague

obviously is trying to bully you out of his career path?

Or when your teenage daughter is seduced by a CEO?

Frøydis, Celeste, Ella and Jenna meet each other at an

evening course in Latin and discover that they have more

in common than a desire to learn a dead language. To put

it simply, they are fed up. It’s time to act. Through subtle

humiliations and comic acts of revenge the ladies deal

precise blows to men in power.

Helene Uri has written a devilish, wise and witty book

about taking action and doing something about the kind

of men who use women as foot stools. In short, the four

women decide to become … bitches.

he le n e u ri’s great breakt-hrough came with the novel The Best Among Us, and she has published a number of books, both fiction and aca-demic. Her books have been translated into 16 languages, amongst others English, German Italian, French and Spanish.

b i b lio graph y: The Righteous (2009), The Best Among Us (2006), Nylon Angel (2003), Honey Tongues (2002), Deep Red 315 (2001), in addition to a number of books on linguistics for children, juveniles and adults.

“High scores for a wonderfully entertaining book”

Dagsavisen

“A devil-may-care and light story about women

who take revenge...”Dagbladet


Excerpt:

Lectio I – In médias res

Celeste Ringstad was crouched astride a man who, in turn, was lying on a dining-table.

As soon as the act was over Celeste straightened her slender body, stretched her arms out

behind her, sighed as if after a job well done and proceeded to talk about what she was

going to be doing later that evening.

“Are you chucking me out now?” her lover asked. Celeste was currently seeing a svelte

dentist.

“Yes,” came the reply as Celeste climbed off him and hopped down from the table. She

remained standing beside it, absent-mindedly toying with the dentist’s semi-erect penis

and smiling to herself. “Might a man have an ever-so-small drink before being kicked

out into the autumn night?» the dentist asked, sitting up and looking at Celeste. If you

disregarded her hips – something he found hard to do since they were exceptionally well-

formed hips – what he found most fascinating about Celeste was probably her skin. She

was smooth and very white, with no moles or other imperfections to speak of. Her right

hand still rested between his thighs. “Sorry, love, there’ll be no more from that quarter

today.“ Celeste smiled, took her hand away and crossed to a collection of bottles and cara-

fes on a silver tray. She was wearing a bra and nothing else, a very fancy, very lacy bra. The

first time they had made love the dentist had tried to undo it, but she had gently brushed

his hand away. “You don’t unwrap all your Christmas presents at one time, do you?” she

had asked. “Show a little patience!” Today he had fingered a bra-strap, and she had smiled

and promised that next time, maybe …

Translator: barbar a havel and

foreign s ales previous work: Denmark: KlimSweden: NorstedtsNetherlands: De GeusFrance: LattesItaly: MarsilioSpain: Maeva

gyldendal litteratur /// 011highlights, crime fiction

Extract:

Prologue

There are no monsters under the bed.

He tries to breathe normally, to be as quiet as a mouse. He mustn’t make a sound. If he

can do that, the angry creature might not find him, it might turn around and go away. But

is that what he wants? If it leaves now, it will take his Mum away with it.

All the boy saw was an arm. It was wearing coarse fabric like Dad’s boiler suit which he

puts on whenever he tinkers with his mountain bike or does odd jobs around the house.

The spaceship it took him almost a whole week to build is broken and the bricks lie

strewn across the floor. Some of them have rolled under the bed where he is hiding. As he

ran into his bedroom, he knocked the spaceship down from the green plastic table which

Dad and he bought in IKEA. He is scared that the fiend downstairs heard the racket as the

Lego bricks scattered. A Luke Skywalker figure he had wanted for so long and finally got

for his birthday from Mum and Dad is lying right in front of his nose and staring at him

with dark empty eyes.

Translator: charlot te barslund

foreign s ales

Denmark: PolitikenSweden: Forum Finland: Johnny Kniga/WSOY Russia: AST Netherlands: De Fonteine Brazil. Suma de LettrasItaly: Nord MauriSpagnol Germany: Heyne RH France: JCGawsewitch/Balland Korea: Woongjin Thinkbig

010 /// gyldendal litteratur highlights, crime fiction

novel | nådens omkrets | 377 pages | publication date: september 2011

jørgen brekkeRealm of Grace

A new crime writer with immediate success and sales of

translation rights to ten countries

In 1528, a young Franciscan monk pays a visit to Bergen.

He leaves the town with an extensive collection of kni-

ves and untreated hides. Almost five hundred years later,

a flayed body is found at a museum in Richmond, Vir-

ginia, and another body in a book vault in Trondheim,

Norway. Both cases appear to be linked to The Book of

John, an old and cryptic text written on parchment.

This first novel about the American homicide detec-

tive, Felicia Stone, and the Norwegian police inspector,

Odd Singsaker who is recovering from cancer is a story

of dissection, ancient books, gruesome murders and

wounds that only time can heal.

jørgen b r e k k e (born 1968) has a background as a literary critic and has worked as a freelance journalist for some years. Realm of Grace is his first crime novel and he plans to write more books whose premise is that answers to a present day murder can be found in the past. He is cur-rently working on several possible scenarios and a new novel is due for publication in early 2012.

“An original combination of several factors: the Nordic crime tradition, Nordic hu-mour and understatement, unusual and innovative main characters and an exciting setting. The novel is rooted in the past and the present, in Scandinavia and the US and appeals to a large group of rea-ders across the world. “

k a t r ine r iis a g e r, editor, Politiken Publishing

“A glorious feast for the reader [...] Jørgen Brekke quickly establishes his own style and narrative voice.

He will have a huge following.” Adresseavisen

“The story and the plot work su-perbly, it’s impossible to put down

this book [...] Get your copy now!” Kulturspeilet

“Jørgen Brekke writes with infectious involvement and passion and paints a colourful and exciting

backdrop for an enjoyable and vigorous crime novel.”

VG


thomas enger Phantom Pain

A sequel to Burned (2010), an international success with

foreign sales to 17 countries. Phantom Pain is contracted

in 10 countries so far.

If you find out who set me up, I’ll tell you what happened

the day your son died. That is the message crime repor-

ter Henning Juul receives from the incarcerated former

extortionist Tore Pulli. He is convicted for a murder he

claims he did not commit and he wants Henning to find

the real killer.

Truth has never meant more for Henning Juul. And

in order to find the truth he has to dive deep into an im-

penetrable world surrounded by a haze of myth. Unco-

vering more questions than answers, Henning wonders

whether Pulli is to be trusted. Soon he realizes that he

has to find not one but several killers, killers who have

never been more dangerous than they are now.

thomas e n ge r (b. 1973) published his first crime novel Burned in early 2010. It was introduced to inter-national publishers ahead of publication and immediately captured the interest of Nor-dic, European, US and Asian publishers; today the foreign sales of translation rights count 17 countries. Burned is the first of six books in a character-driven series of crime novels mirroring the

crime reporter Henning Juul’s life drama and a very con-temporary Oslo scenario. It plumets the depths of Oslo’s underbelly, skewers the cor-ridors of dirty politics and nails the fast-moving world of 24-hour news. All this plus a string of extremely brutal murders.

Angus Cargill/Faber & Faber/UK:.“Burned is a significant acquisition

for Faber’s growing crime list. It is a novel that combines the thrill of the best page-turner, with a deep

psychological portrait of this won-derful character Henning Juul.”


Extract:

It’s always the same scream.

Henning Juul blinks and fumbles for the light switch. The sheet under him is wet and

the air quivers with heat. He runs clammy fingers over the scars on his neck and his face.

A bass rhythm pouring out from an open window in Steenstrupsgate is pounding his

head. In the distance a motorbike roars as it sets off, then there is silence. Like a crescendo

before a sudden death.

Henning takes a deep breath and tries to strangle the dream still living in him like a vivid

movie, but it refuses to be erased.

It had started off as a good dream. They had gone outside to play that day, Jonas and him.

A thick layer of snow had covered the ground overnight. At the junction by Birkelunden

the tramlines were reduced to ruler straight silver lines on the ground. The dense snow-

flakes were still dancing in the air and they melted the moment they landed on Henning’s

cheek.

He was pulling Jonas on the sledge down Toftesgate and into Sofienberg Park, where

the children looked like black dots on the small hill sloping down from the church. Jonas

threw himself energetically from side to side. Henning was gasping for air when they fi-

nally reached the top of the hill. He was about sit down at the rear of the sledge when

Jonas stopped him.

‘Not you, Daddy! Only me!’

Translator: charlot te barslund

foreign s ales

Denmark: Modtryk Sweden: Forum Finland: Otava Iceland: UppheimarRussia: Corpus Germany: Blanvalet RH Italy: Iperborea Spain: JPLibros Netherlands: Q-Querido France: Serpent a Plumes UK: Faber & Faber

UK critics on Burned: “New Stars of Nordic Noir” piece in the Independent

“[Enger is] one of the most unusual and intense talents in the field.” Independent

“This debut from Norwegian journalist and composer Thomas Enger has real strengths: the ca-reful language, preserved in the fine translation; and its haunted journalist hero ... This could be an intriguing series.”john o’connell, Guardian

novel | fantomsmerte | 397 pages | publication date: spring 2011

USA: Atria- Simon & Schuster

Poland: Czarne Hungary: Animus Romania: Ed. Litera Turkey: Pegasus Korea: Sapiens 21


novel | vinterstengt | 328 pages | publication date: september 2011

jørn lier horstClosed for Winter

The experienced police investigator Horst publishes a

seventh sequel in the William Wisting series

Autumn fog covers the coastal landscape like a blanket

and the cabins gaze with blind windows towards the

leaden sea. Ove Bakkerud intends to spend a last, quiet

weekend at his summer house before closing the place

up for winter. But when he arrives he finds the place a

shambles, rummaged by burglars. And in the neighbou-

ring cottage: A man who has been mangled to death.

Detective chief inspector William Wisting has seen

grotesque killings before. But the desperation he witnes-

ses in Stavern this autumn is new to him. As if someone

has everything to win and hardly anything to lose. The-

refore he is not very pleased when his daughter Line, a

crime reporter, settles down in a cabin out at the mouth

of the fjord.

jørn li e r ho rst (b. 1970) has worked as a policeman in Larvik since 1995 and now holds a position as the head of investigations at the local police office.

He made his literary debut as a crime writer in 2004 and has now published seven books in his crime series set in southern Norway, the saga of Police Inspector William Wisting, his journalist daugh-ter Line, and the team of cri-

minal investigators at Larvik police station.

The author, who has him-self several years’ experience as a Norwegian policeman, brings his knowledge to bear on the descriptions of police procedures and methodical detection work.

“Horst belongs among the top names of Norwegian

crime writers.” terje stemland, Aftenposten


Extract:

The fog drifted in from the sea in swirling sheets, lying like vapour over the wet asphalt

and shaping little haloes around the streetlights.

Ove Bakkerud was driving with one hand on the wheel, with the darkness packing the

landscape around him.

He liked this time of the year, just before the autumn leaves fell. This would be his last

trip down to the summer house at Stavern, to nail closed the shutters on the windows,

pull the boat onto land and shut the place up for winter. He looked forward to it all sum-

mer; it was his holiday. The actual work took no more than a couple of hours on Sunday

afternoon, and the remainder of the time was his own.

He slowed down, swinging off the main road and driving onto the crunching gravel.

The car headlights slid over the briar hedge along the road to the parking area. The clock

on the dashboard showed 21.37 before he switched off the ignition, emerging from the car

and breathing in the fresh tang of salt sea air. The waves sounded like distant thunder as

they crashed against the shore.

foreign s ales (in p revious work):Denmark: Punktum Forlag UK: Sandstone Press Germany: Rowohlt Verlag Netherlands: Q-Querido

016 /// gyldendal litteratur norwegian novels and short stories

novel | kammerpiken | 144 pages | publication date: september 2011

cecilie engerThe Chamber Maid

Appleton House, England, 1920: 21 year old Hilda Coo-

per has just received employment as a chamber maid. She

takes great pride in removing stains from the Queen’s

table cloth.

HMS Blenheim, Oslo harbour, 1926: Hilda Cooper

looks out at the Oslo Fjord and Ekebergåsen. It is an un-

familiar landscape. She has been employed as the Nor-

wegian Queen Maud’s dressing assistant.

The Red Cross Hospital, Oslo, 1992: Hilda Cooper qui-

etly passes away, 93 years old. A long life in the service

of the Royal family is over. She never got to live with a

man, she never had her own family. But she lived for the

dresses, for her memories of the Queen, for her duty.

cecilie e n ge r: (born 1963) has studied his-tory, Norwegian and journa-lism. She works as a feature journalist and her first novel Necessity was published in 1994 and was greeted warmly by the critics. In her two latest novels she has been inspired by historical events and persons.

s e lected b iograp hy: Storming Heaven (2007), Look in Mercy (2003), The Henriksen Brothers (2000), Extremity (1996: published by Kabel Verlag /Piper tb) , Necessity (1994)

Praise for Storming Heaven: “Enger’s novel is at times almost excessively gripping, not least in its descriptions of sickness and

sudden death... The author wholly embeds herself under the skin of her subject whilst her account of

the general misery holds her readers in thrall.”

DN

gyldendal litteratur /// 017norwegian novels and short stories

novel | kvinner før jul | 170 pages | publication date: november 2011

marianne fastvoldWomen Before Christmas

Can angels, scented candles and Christmas cleaning

expel jealousy, or are more drastic measures required,

such as murder? Ingrid has her hands full preparing for

Christmas. But shopping lists and plans seem to have

less effect this year. She is jealous. Her husband has been

touring with his band and receives calls from Olivia, the

singer in the band. Dark-haired, dewy-eyed Olivia, who

approaches Ingrid and turns her Christmas angels into

demons.

foreign s ales

Denmark: Centrum Latvia: Atena Germany: Kabel /Piper BTB, Orlanda

selected b iography: Love for Experienced Learners

(2008), Swept and in Order (2003),

Tristan is Coming (1998), Dead as a Dodo (1994), Women in Flight (1991)

marianne fastvold (born in 1951) debuted with

the short story collection Women in Flight (1991) and her trademark is irony and a

wonderful sense of humour. She has since published four novels. She is also the author

of specialized books on law.

“... filled to the brim with humour, warmth and a never ending faith in love – in these times of serial monogamy ... ” Bergens Tidende on her previous novel



short stories | ubestemt tid | 123 pages | publication date: spring 2011

jan grueIndefinite Time

Sometimes we need complicated machines in order to

travel in time, other times it doesn’t take more than a

thought. Now you are standing at Eidsvoll with the Con-

stitutional Fathers in 1814, regretting that you didn’t put

on some warmer clothes.

The twelve short stories in Indefinite Time deal with

the unforeseeability of events the changeability of his-

tory. They explain why we happen to live in the best of

all conceivable worlds and who will turn out the light

and shut the door upon leaving, when Norway (in the

rather near future) has been shut down, dismantled and

shipped off to foreign owners.

“ ... sharp, playful and enjoyable stories with time at the central theme, at times frightfully beauti-fully told .. ” Stavanger Aftenblad

“A mastership in short story tel-ling.”Dagbladet

novel | for så høyt var du elsket | 242 pages | publication date: october 2011

nikolaj frobeniusYou Were so Deeply Loved

For years, Dr. Victor Ulvdal served as a respected and loved

general practitioner in Oslo. He has also been a suppor-

tive, caring father for his son Emil since the boy’s mother

disappeared on a mission for the Norwegian Agency for

Development Aid when Emil was seven years old. At

85 Viktor is still in good shape, an independent elderly

gentleman. Until the day he suffers from a stroke. He is

hospitalized, and then released. A new stroke, new hos-

pitalization, release, rehabilitation, released again, a heart

attack, hospital, temporary residence in a care centre, new

release. Viktor grows weaker and weaker, more and more

dependent on help, but still they keep returning him to an

empty home. And the illness changes his personality. The

once amiable gentleman becomes unpredictable and furi-

ous – and Emil has to weather it all, has to suffer the pain

of seeing his father decay, the despair and powerlessness

of being next of kin to a man who refuses to die.

niko laj fro ben i u s

(born in 1965) debuted in 1986 with a collection of prose texts. His third novel Latour’s Catalogue/De Sade’s Valet (1996) became an internatio-nal success and his books have been translated into 14 lan-guages. Frobenius’ trademark is a linguistic skill beyond the norm. In his writing he swit-ches between real, fictitious and historical scenarios with supreme confidence.

fo reign s ales p revious w ork: Denmark: Tiderne Skifter Finland: Gummerus France: Actes Sud Italy: Ponte Alle Grazie-MauriSpagnol Spain: Rocca Editorial Korea: Munhakdogne

selected bibliography:I Will Show You Fear (2008),

Magnificent Defeats (essays 2007), Theory and Practice

(2004), The Very Least (20039, Other Places (2001), The Shy

Pornographer (1999), De Sade’s Valet (2004).

jan grue, born 1981, has stu-died film and linguistics and is currently working on a PhD in linguistics at the University of Oslo. He has been a columnist

for Klassekampen and has published articles i various

newspapers and periodicals. He made his literary debut

in 2010 with the short story collection Everything Under

Control.


novel | gi meg et sverd | 128 pages | publication date: spring 2011s | new writer


novel | ian der schönen blauen donau | 181 pages | publication date: october 2011

øivind hånesAn der schönen blauen Donau

Hånes has a particular talent for building the singular odd

character and writes with elegance and linguistic skill

It all boiled down to a question of margarine. Claus Peter

Mahler owns a margarine factory in the small German

town Langenberg. The factory has made him wealthy,

but it is also a double-edged sword. Whenever he hap-

pens to have a conversation with strangers he can’t help

noticing their reactions when they hear what he does

for a living. People don’t take him seriously, and they

don’t include him in their social circles. When he turns

50, he decides that he needs a change of course. To give

himself a chance to think things through, he goes on a 12

day cruise on the Danube and through ten countries to

where the river spills out into the Black Sea. On the boat

he meets a former actress Katarina, a woman who will

bring about great changes in his life.

foreign s ales previous work:

Germany: Kiepenheuer & Witsch

Russia: Impeto Lithuania : Vaga

Spain, Netherlands

selected b ib lio grap h y: Antagon (2008), The Golden Orioles in Benidorm (2006),

Petroleum (2004), A Day for Paprika (2002),

Permafrost (1998).

ø ivind hånes (born in 1960) is an author, musician, and composer. He debuted as a

fiction writer in 1991 and, in addition to writing novels

and short stories, has written about food, wine, and spirits.

For the novel The Golden Orioles in Benidorm, he was

nominated for the Nordic Council’s literature prize.

gunnar bjørnå høgstmyrGive me a Sword

2011: Thomas and Frank lead normal students’ lives with

beer, reading halls and long, theoretical discussions.

They want something else. One year later, a number of

prominent, Norwegian public figures are executed by

an unknown terrorist organization. Eighteen year old

Anette has fled to The Netherlands, where someone

cuts off one of her ears in a dark apartment. In a confi-

ned psychiatric ward one of the patients is encouraged

by her psychiatrist to break out. Somewhere else a young

woman is comatized, her shoulder is tattooed with a

quote from a Persian missionary.

Give Me a Sword is a contemporary dystopia set in

Norway, a fragmented tale of brainwashing, brutality

and alienation – and about the feeling of having been

conned all your life.

gu n n ar bjørnå høgstmyr was born in 1987 and has studied English and History. Give Me a Sword is his first literary work.

“A style of writing characterized by less-is-more, a fundamentally

inquisitive attitude and fertile shifts of perspective are the most important guarantees that we will hear more from this new writer.”

Bergens Tidende

new writer


novel | nu, jävlar! | approx 300 pages | publication date: spring 2011s

heidi lindeYes, We Can!

Obama’s slogan ”change we can believe in” reverberated

far outside the borders of the US. Even in a small town

in Eastern Norway, Terese figured that it was high time

for some change. But now, as she waddles about in the

final stages of pregnancy, she is unsure whether this is

the change she needed.

We encounter Kevin, who has suffered from a broken

heart for twelve years, Lydia and her imaginary friend,

the Norwegian Queen Sonja, and Jessica, who is coming

home to attend her own wedding … to a man she no

longer knows if she ought to marry.

Yes, We Can! is a novel about baking, Metallica, mor-

ning sickness and the Soccer World Cup – but primarily

about people it is impossible not to like.

he i d i lind e (born 1973) has been a rising star since her debut novel Under the Table (2002) made it to the main selection in Norway’s major book club, but has since devo-ted a lot of her time to writing for film and radio dramas. She is now blooming, and Yes, We Can! enchanted the critics. She is also one of few plot driven women writers to traverse the gender gap; the

reviewers obviously see her as a writer for both men and women.

foreign sales: Denmark: Rosinante Sweden: Norstedts Finland: WSOY

“Heidi Linde resembles Jonathan Franzen and Nick Hornby.

She will sell in buckets.” DN

«This is a great novel about small town life. Yes We Can!

has everything it takes to become a bestseller»

Aftenposten


short stories | å dele en flamme | 85 pages | publication date: october 2011

annette mattssonSharing a Flame

We meet, we fall in love. We start to share a flame – but

are we able to keep it alive? The couples in these short

stories have all lived together for a long time and are very

attached to one another. All the same, they challenge

themselves and their partners. They seek to destroy and

they attempt to repair. They seek revenge and they ex-

perience love. They are afraid to lose, but they are also

afraid and tired of being held too tightly.

The stories are about arguing while on holiday in Italy,

about being thrown out of the car in a foreign environ-

ment. They are about people who can’t live together but

can’t live alone. They are about a man who finds that the

criteria for happiness change as he ages. They are about

phone conversations in the night and about lovers who

never, ever forget.

annette mattson

(born 1959) published her firstcollection of short stories in

1997. She was awarded TheNorwegian Booksellers´ New

Writer´s stipend, the Bjørnsonstipend and Tanum´sstipend for

female writers.


novel | skikongen | 375 pages | publication date: october 2011

pål gerhard olsenThe Ski King

The Pyrenees, winter 1910: A runaway ski stabs a

mountain guide in the eye and rocks the rational world

view of general staff officer and ski enthusiast Hjalmar

Wist. In the aftermath of Norway’s Independence

(1905) and the wave of national enthusiasm and self-

confidence he sees it as his mission to combine cross-

country skiing and military defence. In order to realize

his vision he starts producing skis on his family farm in

Ringerike, but an irresistible attraction to the enigma-

tic Russian woman Vera Heffermehl puts a crack in his

rigid and business-like bachelor life. Under the gloomy

shadow of an approaching world war she runs an illicit

operation amongst the emerging exile community in

Kristiania, the result of which will soon prove to have

fatal consequences for both of them.

pål gerhard o lsen: (born in 1959) made his li-terary debut in 1985 and is a prolific writer who has pub-lished novels, plays and crime fiction. Two of his crime no-vels have been published by Rowohlt Verlag.

s e lected b ib lio graph y: In the Light of the Red Sun (novel, 2007), Night Music (crime novel, 2005), Whitsun (novel, 2003), The Millennium (crime novel, 2002),Peacetime (novel, 2000), The Oslo Girl (crime novel, 1998).


short stories | sammen.brudd. | 160 pages | publication date: spring 2011

edy poppyComing.Apart

Coming.Apart is a collection of short stories about the

confusion of being two and the insufficiency of being

one. Edy Poppy writes about people who are living on

the edge, about intense relationships and passion gone

sour. Edy Poppy’s sensitive, observant prose conjures up

the desperation of falling in love and the fear of being left

alone – in the sticks, by the sea, on the rubbish heap or in

the metropolis Berlin. She has an original and vivacious

take on the widespread use of reality in fiction and poses

new questions about the best way of capturing Truth.

Coming.Apart is a collection of short stories full of para-

dox, narcissism and self-loathing, of independence and

dependence, of truth and lies.

foreign s ales anatomy.mon oton y:

Finland: Otava Germany: Goldmann

Poland: WAB Italy: Bompiani

e dy poppy (f. 1975) grew up on a farm in Telemark, but has

spent several years in Mont-pellier, London and Berlin.

She has a varied professional background encompassing

theatre, film and art and has published a number of texts in anthologies and periodi-

cals. She made her literary debut in 2005 with the novel

Anatomy.Monotony which won a novel contest for the

best love story.

“There is a riveting, devil-may-care impulse in Poppy’s use of language and in her perspective. She explo-res mood nuances and emotional variations in the magnetic field between euphoric highs and pathetic lows.” Morgenbladet


short stories | historien om fru berg | 119 pages | publication date: spring 2011

ingvild hedemann rishøiThe Tale of Mrs. Berg

The Tale of Mrs. Berg contains five new short stories by

Ingvild H. Rishøi. With great empathy and a unique

literary force she describes the fragility of human rela-

tions; the enigmatic, the frightening and the beautiful.

The stories are about meeting one’s first mistress, about

being clairvoyant and seeing signs, and about discove-

ring that you are completely similar to Janis Joplin. They

are about believing in fate, fireflies and card games. And

about loving a hamster named Mrs Berg.

i n gv i ld h. rishøi (born 1978) made her literary debut in 2007 with Do Not Erase, a short story collection which was selected Book of the Month in the BNB Book Club and received brilliant reviews.

fo reign s ales: Denmark - Batzer & Co.

”An important literary oeuvre is taking shape.”

Morgenbladet

”Moving, shocking and exhilerating […] merely 33 years old, Rishøi exhibits a talent reminiscent of

Vesaas. Impressive.” bjarne tveiten, Fædrelandsvennen


essay | kom ikke uten begjær | ??? pages | publication date: january 2011

thea selliaas thorsenDo Not Come Without Desire

Fifty short essays about more than fifty authors and

about literature from a period of almost five thousand

years. The range is unique, from Babylonian literary

wisdom through the ancient classics to European mas-

terpieces, nursery rhymes and Norwegian contemporary

literature.

Thea Selliaas Thorsen is known, among other things,

for her column in Morgenbladet and for her translations

of ancient love poetry. In this book she gives a personal

and passionate testimony about literature she loves.

Come Not Without Desire is an invitation to partake

in what’s good about literature, it’s surprises, because

it tells you that you are alive, because it is alive – even

though it should by all appearences be dead as clay, pa-

pyrus and parchment, as ink, paper and electronic reader

screens.

thea selliaas thor sen (b. 1974) presently resides in

Oxford. She holds a dr.art. in Latin and is editor of The

Cambridge Companion to Latin Love Elegy (2011).

She has translated several of Ovid’s works into Norwegian

and made her own literary debut in 2004 with

the novel Pia Fraus.

”An excellent entrance for any reader who would like to access the classics.” Bergens Tidende

028 /// gyldendal litteratur poetry

poems | jimmen | 54 pages | publication date: october 2011

øyvind rimbereidJimmen

Jimmen is a narrative long poem about the fjording

horse Jimmen and his coachman. Their job is to collect

kitchen refuse in Stavanger in the late 1970’s. They me-

ander through a city that is undergoing changes. A new

Norway is taking shape around them. While the coach-

man speaks in the Stavanger dialect, Jimmen has a brist-

ling, unfinished language based on old Norwegian word

forms, a helpless grammar and rhythmic speech patterns

reminiscent of ballad stanzas. The two of them exist in

a limbo between historic fact and myth. The coachman

has a hole in his heart and a knitting sister who tends

to think of him as “Wee Jeremiah”. Jimmen’s harness is

uncomfortable, and his legs would rather gallop along

paths of their own choosing.

øyv ind rimbereid

(born in 1966) debuted in 1993. He has published prose, poetry and essays, and has won several awards, inclu-ding the "Hunger" Prize and the Literary Critics’ Award for the poetry collection Solaris Corrected. Herbarium (2008) was awarded the prestigeous Brage Prize, and he was no-minated to the Nordic Literary Price. His poems have been

published in France, Germany and the UK, and he has also been translated into Bengali and Slovakian.

”Rimbereid holds a position in the literary canon as one our the best contemporary writers, and he has been awarded several prizes. Not

only is he an excellent poet, his voice is also important.”

Klassekampen

gyldendal litteratur /// 029poetry

poems | store hvite bok å se | 174 pages | publication date: august 2011

jan erik voldGreat White Book to See

Norway’s favourite poet

Great White Book to See is a further development of the

leaping, intuitive global poetry Vold began with Twelve

Meditations and The Dreammaker Said. Within a frame

of snow poems the book contains texts on childhood,

falling in love, marriage, old age. On the poet’s parents

and Arctic polar bears. On the Dead Sea scrolls and the ri-

sing ocean. On the difference between Jesus and Buddha.

On resigning to the Great Whiteness that awaits us. The

collection covers a historical period that spans from the

battle of Thermopylae to the cross-country race Skarve-

rennet.

jan e rik vold is a popular essayist, translator, public

debater and recording artist. His poems and newspaper ar-

ticles have initiated numerous discussions on literature and

politics, and he was one of the founders of ”The Poetry Year 2000”. In September 2000 he

received an honorary docto-rate from The University of

Oslo. In the 1960’s he studied language and literature at the

universities of Oslo, Uppsala and Santa Barbara, California. His first book of poetry, Bet-ween Mirror and Mirror, was published in 1965, and since

then he has had an extensive production. Jan Erik Vold was

born in 1939. He is currently living in Stockholm.

030 /// gyldendal litteratur norwegian crime fiction

crime novel | midtvintermørke | 260 pages | publication date: september 2011

anita berglundWinter Darkness

A pregnant woman, Rebekka Tangen, is assaulted and

beaten unconscious with a spanner in her own home in

Svelvik. She and her unborn infant are hovering between

life and death. At almost the same time, the small town

is shaken by a murder in broad daylight. Evidence found

on the crime scene links the two incidents to each other,

and the police direct their attention towards an Eastern

European league of burglars. Didrik Claussen, a police

profiler who mainly works in the States, believes the

explanation lies elsewhere. The brutality of Rebekka’s

assault implies a personal motive. It also turns out that

her husband has disappeared – apparently he has run off

to Brazil. And now someone attempts to kill Rebekka’s

brother-in-law. The Tangen family is surrounded by

threatening shadows.

an i ta berglu n d (b. 1963) has a Master of Science in Financial Economics and has worked as a financial analyst, co-accountant and translator, among other things. She made her debut as a writer of crime fiction in 2009 with the novel Free Falling, which also featured Didrik Claussen as its main protagonist.

Critic’s quote Free Falling: “The foremost quality is the plot, the dramatic complication which

forms the basis in this suspenseful, multi-faceted first novel.” LIV (Literature in Vestfold)

gyldendal litteratur /// 031norwegian crime fiction

crime novel | natthagen | 240 pages | publication date: october 2011

knut faldbakkenThe Night Garden

He is an outsider, a stranger with a past that has plenty

to hide. Time spent in prison has cut all ties to his na-

tive town. He wishes to make his stay brief, he has to tie

up some loose ends after his mother’s demise before he

leaves town. But something forces him to stay on, the

shadows of the past take a grip on him and hold him

back. Forgotten passions are revived. At the same time

he dreads the moment when someone will recognize

him and remember the agonizing incident of his crime,

conviction and sentence. And when a young girl is found

murdered, he becomes a suspect. But is he guilty? And

was he guilty back then, years ago?

Knut Faldbakken researches the darkest sides of man-

kind. He does so with great insight and an uncanny

boldness. The Night Garden is a sinister and captivating

psychological crime tale.

foreign s ales: Denmark: Tiderne Skifter Sweden: Damm Russia: Text France: Seuil Itlay: Giunti

t h e valmann-series: Totem (2009), Late Damage (2008), The Thieves (2007), Night Frost (2006), The Border (2005), The Gymnast (2004).

k nut faldbakken (born 1941) debuted in 1967 with the novel The Grey Rainbow. His books have been translated into 20 languages and two million copies have been sold in Norway and abroad. He lives in small town Hamar, the setting of the novels in the Valmann series.

”Devilishly cunning. A convincing and highly complex phsychological thriller.” Dagbladet


crime novel | forglemmegei | approx 300 pages | publication date: spring 2011

kurt hanssenForget-Me-Not

A charming «local» crime story with music as an essential

element in a multi-layered plot

One early evening just after Easter, 23 year old Kamilla

Kaspersen cycles the last metres up the hill to the local

church in small town Bærum, where she takes organ les-

sons. She is looking forward to her next lesson. As she

locks her bike, she hears organ music wafting through

the open church door, a sad tune she has never heard

before. Abruptly, the music stops, and the following

silence is broken by a sharp, longdrawn dissonance.

Frightened by the sound, Kamilla rushes up the stairs to

the gallery and finds her organ teacher lying across the

keyboard, blood dripping down on the pedals. Rasmus

Berg has been murdered.

ku rt ha n s s e n (b. 1959) lives in small town Bærum. He has reviewed crime fiction for Dagbladet for many years, and he has studied the organ at Tromsø Conservatory. Forget-Me-Not is his literary debut.

gyldendal litteratur /// 033norwegian crime fiction

crime novel | et spørsmål om beskyttelse | 379 pages | publication date: spring 2011

olav william roksethA Matter of Protection

He had experienced this before. He had seen it once too

often.

One late summer evening someone shoots an imam

in Tøyengata, Oslo. The gunman has left a few lines from

an Arabic poem that foretells the coming of the Twelfth

Imam and an era drenched in blood. The security po-

lice contact scholar of religion Davood Ariani believes

that the gunman will commit more murders. A couple

of days later another imam has his throat slashed. The

victim is Milan, a close friend and mentor of Davood’s.

Again they find a few lines from the same poem, writ-

ten in blood. And the terrorist still hasn’t completed his

mission.

Davood’s family were killed during the Lebanon con-

flict. Reluctantly he goes back on the request of the secu-

rity police … and to confront his past.

new writer

olav w. r okseth (b. 1955) is a journalist. He lives and

works in Oslo.

”Although this is a first novel, Olav Rokseth has an experienced writer’s hand and he has delivered a first-class crime novel.” VG

new writer


crime novel | frels oss fra det onde | 300 pages | publication date: mach 2011

kjetil tryDeliver us from Evil

Who lurks behind all those profiles on the Internet’s da-

ting pages? How can a woman seeking love know that a

seemingly sensible man actually is who he pretends to be?

Book II in the Lykke & Sadegh Series:

When Irina Palkova’s eleven year old daughter returns

home to collect a forgotten maths book, she finds her

mother lying murdered on the floor. A long incision

runs from her upper lip to her pelvis, and her body has

been filled with detergent. The only thing missing from

the apartment is the dead woman’s computer. Police

detectives Rolf Lykke and Parisa Sadegh are faced with

tens of thousand of potential suspects, a jungle of pos-

sible motives and a perpetrator who won’t hesitate to

strike again.

Excerpts in English available

k je t i l try was born in 1959 and made his literary debut in 1997 with the crime novel Steady Course. Deliver Us From Evil (2008) is the se-cond novel featuring the team Lykke & Sadegh; with this book Try confirms his ability to build suspense and a strong plot. Kjetil Try is also known for his work in advertizing and as the owner of the Try PR Company.

fo reign s ales: Denmark: Art People, book 1 and 2 Germany: Rowohlt, book 1 and 2 Czech R.: Motto, book 1 and 2 Turkey: Pegasus, book 1 and 2 France: Serie Noire/Gallimard, book 1 , Netherlands: Q-Querido, book 1

”A blood-curdling crime novel which keeps up the tension all

the way,” Dagbladet

gyldendal litteratur /// 035backlist

novel | grense jakobselv | 426 pages

kjartan fløgstadCrossing the River Jacob

Awarded the Nordic Literary Prize in 1977

The wanderer and his shadow, the man of action and

the opportunist. In the early 1930´s two well-educated

young Germans make a decision that leads them to

Oslo´s infamous Gestapo headquarters at Victoria ter-

rasse, to the River Jacob, and further, across the border.

And later across all borders, into a state where they be-

come champions over life and death.

World War II finishes and evolves into the Cold War.

Even in the blur of war there always exists a demarca-

tion between good and bad. Does that demarcation still

follow the same lines today? Horrified by the atrocities

committed by the preceding generation, a young Nor-

wegian tries to do the right thing by abiding by laws and

rules. Will he still end up committing an injustice?

foreign s ales: His work has been translated

into Danish, Swedish, English, French/Ed.

Stock, Spanish/Lengua de Trapo, German, Russian

selected b ib lio graph y:Grand Manila (2006), Paradise

on Earth (2002), Sudameri-cana, Latin American Journeys (2000), Heads or Tails (1998), Fimbul (1994), With a Knife at

your Throat (1991)

kjartan fløgstad (1944) is widely regarded as

one of the most important and influential Norwegian

writers today. He has written twelve novels and a num-

ber of essay collections and poems as well as plays and biographies. His writing is

highly praised by the critics, and he has received some 13

literary prizes, including the Nordic Literary Council Prize

in 1977.

“… the most powerful contribu-tion to this year´s literary output. Crossing the River Jacob is some-thing as rare as a modern novel of ideas, … The author has a high-octane narrative strength and writes with immense authority”. VG

036 /// gyldendal litteratur backlist

johan harstad

Johan Harstad offers a wholly original voice and is one

of the most obvious talents published by Gyldendal for

many years.

He sees human fates in modern reality in a way that

is both urgent and refined, offering a complete involve-

ment and a particular sense of absurd humor. His cha-

racters often stand slightly to one side, at a distance to

the major pulse of society. They are vulnerable, lonely,

different.

In his first novel Buzz Aldrin, what happened to you

in all the confusion? (2005), Harstad completes a fasci-

nating project. The novel tackles the big question: What

does it mean to be a human today? What is important in

our lives? The narrative voice is convincing, and Mattias,

the protagonist, strives to be the invisible second man,

the cog, the one nobody notices. A grand scale novel

about life, sea, death and love, it references popular cul-

ture, lyrics, songs and bands.

Hässelby (2007): It’s about growing up in a suburb and

knowing you’ll never escape. It’s about the collection

value of Star Wars action figures, about the rock group

The Police, about acausal causalities and everyday syn-

chronicity. It’s a novel that takes the reader from Häs-

selby to Hong Kong to Normandy by way of resistance

struggle, capitulation, and nights of terror, through

overfilled ironmonger storerooms and into deserted

streets onto which rubbish is emptied in the first light of

“Buzz Aldrin is an enchanting adventure with a terrifically good

narrator.” Het Patrool, Amsterdam.


dawn. Hässelby is a novel about those all too numerous

demons that come, perhaps, at the very worst time, but

that nonetheless must come – sooner or later.

In 2008 Johan Harstad published his first YA novel,

Darlah, 172 hours on the Moon, awarded the Brage Prize

the same year.

In 2009 Johan Harstad was employed as the

Nationaltheatret’s first house play write. Etc. is the play

that grew out of that engagement, partially in collabo-

ration with the theatre’s actors. It is an extensive work,

brutally merciless, almost exhausting, but also beautiful

and funny. According to the author it is “simply the

most aggressive thing I have ever written.”

Johan Harstad made his debut 21 years old, with a

contribution to Postboks 6860 in 2000, releasing his

first collection of prose works, From here on you just

get older, in 2001. This was followed by a collection of

short stories, Ambulance, in 2002 received with critical

acclaim, translated into French and Finnish. Harstad has

also written four pieces for the theatre, Degrees of White,

Washingtin, Krasnoyarsk, The Breadman’s Memoirs col-

lected in BSIDES published in 2008. Harstad’s last publi-

cation is the play Etc. 2010.

Buzz Aldrin, what happened to you in all the confu-

sion? was launched in the US to critical acclaim in June

2011 by Seven Stories Press.

“There’s so much music, exube-rance, bewilderment and sweet

melancholy in Johan Harstad’s Buzz Aldrin. It’s rock ’n’ roll, then

heartbreaking, then rock ’n’ roll again. I devoured every line.”

paolo giordano, author of The Solitude of Prime Numbers

“Harstad published his first collection of stories when he was

21. Several books later, he has established himself as one of the

most important writers of his generation.”

silje bekeng of N1BR/ literary magazine/New York

“I’d follow this voice anywhere” – from a high-ranking sales rep at

Random House Publisher Services

foreign sales: Denmark: Batzer & Co.Sweden: Wahlström &

WidstrandFinland: Gummerus

Faroe Islands: Kim SimonsenRussia: «Fluid»

Netherlands: PodiumGermany: Piper

France: GaïaItaly: Iperborea

USA: Seven Stories PressKorea: Munhakdongne


short stories | brønnene | 272 pages

hans herbjørnsrudThe Wells

Awarded the Norwegian LIterary Critics’ Award in 1997

“When in the winter of 1976, I left college in Sagaheim

to take over the family farm here in Heddal, I had in

my possession a skeleton and an anatomy book.” Thus

opens the longest of the stories in The Wells. Just before

he leaves college, our narrator is told of an unpublished

poem, “Cain and Abel”, by the great 19th century Nor-

wegian author Wergeland; a poem with a prophetic en-

ding which looks far into the millennia, a poem that has

understood too much. The powerful hold this poem has

over his imagination forces him to search for the truth

of its creation and its ending. But the challenges do not

only lie within the poem; but within reality itself, where

conflicts between brothers and between farmer and poet

take disturbing new turns. “The Skeleton and the Ana-

tomy Book”, a major short story in the collection.

ha n s herbjørnsrud was born in Telemark in 1938, and made his debut in 1979 with Witnesses and is today a cele-brated author of short stories. Herbjørnsrud has been no-minated twice for the Nordic Council Prize for Literature, and has been awarded the Dobloug Prize, the Aschehoug Prize and the Critics’ Prize.

fo reign s ales: His work has been published in France (Editions Circé) and Germany (Luchterhand)and his short stories have been represented in antholo-gies in the UK, Russia, Hungary, the Czech R. , Slovenia, Croatia.

“Yet again, Herbjørnsrud proves that he is the Master of short

story writting.”Dagsavisen


novel | ingenting å angre på | 368 pages

trude marsteinNothing to Regret

It is a warm June night and summer vacation is on the

steps. Vegard drives his three daughters to the family´s

summer cottage, his wife has arranged to take the train

out the following day. She has a half year account to fi-

nish before she leaves. But it isn´t work that is keeping

Heidi in town. In reality she is going to spend a night

with her lover. Through two days and two nights we fol-

low Heidi and Vegard in their separate activities, in two

separate worlds.

Nothing to Regret is a story about hotel rooms and

cottage kitchens, about overpowering desire and fishing

trips with the children. With a keen sense of human ob-

servation Trude Marstein writes a novel about infatua-

tion and betrayal, about dreams and passions.

foreign s ales: TiderneSkifter/DK, Kabusa/

SWE«Doing Good»:

Stock/FR, Houtekiet/BLE, Kabusa/SWE, TS/DK

b ib lio graph y:Doing Good (novel 2006),

Construction and Sincerety (essays 2004), Elin and Hans (novel 2002), Suddenly Hea-

ring Someone Opening a Door (novel 2002), Strong Hunger, Sudden Nausea (novel 1998)

trude marstein (b. 1973) was awarded the

Critics´ Prize as well as the PO Enquist Prize for her previous

novel, Doing Good (2006), which confirmed her promi-

nent position among younger Norwegian authors. She

received the Debutant Prize in 1998 and later won the Sult Prize and the Doubloug Prize.

“A skilfully crafted novel that reveals intriguing mechanisms of consciousness.” Aftenposten


novel | vårofferet | 350 pages

lars myttingSpring Sacrifice

It is late March and a mild zero degrees as Lieutenant

Aksel Størmer arrives in Messingdalen, the village

which in heathen times sacrificed a human being to

make spring appear.

Aksel is there to wind up the area’s old military camp,

but his friendship with a neglected child gets him entan-

gled with a repressed family drama.

Why does the room fall silent when he turns up in

Chow Chow Inn? Why will no one talk about what has

happened to Iver Tallaksen?

Gradually, the dark woodland village lets go of its

mysteries. Soon people start pulling him into their lives,

demanding a tougher, more heroic courage of Aksel than

the war he was on his way to.

lars m yt t i n g (b. 1968) had his debut with the novel Horsepower in 2006, which, with translations to German, Danish, Swedish and Fin-nish became a bestselling first novel. He has earlier worked as a feature journalist and publishing editor (as well as casual work on a mink farm, as a farmhand, and in a car stereo shop). The starting point of his novels is the mo-

dern Norwegian village, with a particular passion for car repair shops, military camps and other masculine envi-ronments rarely portrayed in Norwegian literature.

fo reign s ales - horsepower (2006): Samleren/Dk, Forum/Swe, Like/Fin, Piper/Ger

“... tension at slow pace, with a language and a sensitivity making

most other Norwegian novels seem soft. “

Dagsavisen


crime novel | vi skal arve vinden | 250 pages

gunnar staalesen We Shall Inherit the Wind

Staalesen delivers classy, vintage crime novels, and has more

than one million readers in Norway. The new novel is the

fifteenth in his famous series featuring the PI Varg Veum.

Varg Veum’s girlfriend Karin Bjørge is in hospital with

life-threatening injuries, and Veum has to admit it: the

blame is his. Everything began with a seemingly innocent

case of a disappearance. The husband of one of Karin’s

friends had vanished without a trace a few days before he

was to take part in an inspection of the site of a planned

wind farm. The investigation leads the Bergen detective

into a case saturated with conflicts, where environmental

terrorism, religious fanaticism, dubious business ethics

and an unsolved disappearance mystery from the past are

important ingredients. Then the first body appears – tied to

a cross, facing the mouth of the fjord and an unsolved disap-

pearance mystery from the past are important ingredients.

foreign s ales: The Varg Veum series has been published in 15 langua-ges – and is today represented by Arcadia/UK ,Vindrose-Borgen/DK, Gaïa-Gallimard Folier Policier/FR, Iperborea/IT, Alba/ESP, Inostranka/RUS , Polis/GR, Slowo/POL , Nyitott/UNG

g unna r s t aales en was born in 1947 and published

his first novel in 1969. He en-joys an enormous popularity in Norway and has been awar-ded the Riverton Prize (=The Golden Pistol) twice, for Fal-len Angels 1989, also awarded the Booksellers’ Prize, and for As in a Mirror 2002. His VV series now counts 15 volumes. Six of the VV novels have been dramatized for film and DVDs and another six are on their way.

“Staalesen is a Norwegian Raymond Chandler – with fewer wisecracks, perhaps, but capable of generating a dark intensity that few crime writers can rival.” andrew taylor/Sherlock


knut hamsun

Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920

A selection of Knut Hamsun’s major novels:

Hunger (1890)

A true classic of modern literature - and a forerunner

of the psychologically driven fiction of Kafka, Camus

and Sarramago – Hunger is the story of a Norwegian ar-

tist who wanders the streets of Christiania (now Oslo),

struggling on the brink of starvation while trying to sell

his articles to the local newspaper. As hunger overtakes

his body and his mind the writer slides inexorably into

paranoia and despair.

Mysteries (1892)

is a classic of European literature, one of the seminal

novels of the twentieth century. It is the story of Johan

Nagel, a strange young man who arrives in a small Nor-

wegian coastal town n order to spend the summer. His

presence acts as a catalyst, releasing the hidden impul-

ses, concealed thoughts and darker instincts of the local

people.


Pan (1894)

Knut Hamsun’s Pan is former lieutenant Thomas

Glahn’s retrospective narrative of his life and adventures

in the Norwegian woods. A man of fascinating comple-

xity, Glahn is in some respects a modern successor to a

long line of «superfluous» men in western literature, an

heir to Goethe’s Werther and the protagonists of Tur-

genev and Dostoyevsky. But this portrait of a man re-

jecting the claims of bourgeois society for a Rousseauian

embrace of Nature and Eros explores the veiled myste-

ries of the unconscious by means of thoroughly modern

techniques.

knut hamsun

winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920, is the most

prominent literary figure in Norway since Ibsen. From

his experimental novels of the 1890’s to the broader

narrative sweep of his later works from the interwar period, his contribution

to the development of the modern European novel was

uniquely important.

“The whole modern school of fiction in the twentieth century stems from Hamsun.” isaac bashevis singer

“The most outstanding Norwegian writer since Ibsen.” tls


tarjei vesaasThe Ice PalaceThe birds

Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970) was a poet and novelist. Born

in Vinje, Telemark Vesaas is widely considered to be one

of Norway’s greatest writers of the twentieth century

and perhaps its most important since World War II.

His authorship covers almost 50 years, from 1923 to

1970. Written in nynorsk, his work is characterized by

simple, terse, and symbolic prose. His stories are often

about simple rural people that undergo a severe psycho-

logical drama and who are described with immense psy-

chological insight. Commonly dealing with themes such

as death, guilt and angst and other deep and intractable

human emotions, the Norwegian natural landscape is

a prevalent feature in his works. His debut was in 1923

with Children of Humans, but he had his breakthrough in

1934 with The Great Cycle . His mastery of the nynorsk

language has contributed to its acceptance as a medium

of world class literature.

The most famous of his works are The Ice Palace, a

story of two girls who build a profoundly strong rela-

tionship that ultimately ends tragically; and the Birds,

a story of an adult of a simple childish mind, which

through his tenderhearted empathy and imagination

bears the role of a seer or writer.

A prolific author, he won a number of awards, inclu-

ding The Nordic Council’s Literature Prize in 1963 for his

novel The Ice Palace and the Venice Prize in 1953 for The

Winds. He was mentioned as being considered for the

Nobel Prize for Literature on three separate occasions

(1943, 1964, 1968 and 1969).

gyldendal litteratur /// 045

documentary/history/biography – backlist

history | hellig vrede | 256 pages

laila bokhariHoly WratRights: Hagen Agency: [email protected]

In recent years Pakistan has become a symbol of violence,

extremism and terror. An expert on terrorism, Norwe-

gian Pakistani Laila Bokhari has visited her father’s ho-

meland many times in the past few years. In her book

Bokhari takes the reader on a tour of cities and the coun-

tryside, and visits with the poor as well as the affluent.

We meet politicians, generals and enraged Islamists.

As one of few Western experts Bokhari has spoken to

a number of people in the lawless tribal areas bordering

on Afghanistan, and combines this with descriptions

of daily life in Pakistan. Bokhari forces us to look at our

biases against political Islam and terror. She also sees

signs of hope in the country that her father once left be-

hind. She tracks the foot-steps of mujahids in Kashmir

and the volatile border areas to Afghanistan, but also

ventures into discussions with religious and militant

leaders, young and old militants to understand the drive

behind a force that constantly shakes us all. It is also

the story of those left behind after a suicide attack, the

mothers, sisters, widows of martyrs. This is a well-infor-

med and riveting book that provides fascinating insight

into religious extremism.

laila bokhar i (b. 1974) is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of International Af-fairs (NUPI). She has a Master’s Degree from the University of Amsterdam and has worked at the Defense Department’s Re-search Institute (FFI) and with the United Nations’ Al-Qaida Taliban Monitoring Team.

046 /// gyldendal litteratur


biography | regines bok. en ung jentes siste ord | 287 pages

regine stokkeFace you Fear – The Book of RegineRights: Hagen Agency: [email protected]

August, 2008: Regine Stokke, 17 years-old, is diagnosed

with acute leukaemia.

A couple of months later she creates the blog «Face

your fear,» which soon becomes one of the most visited

blogs in Norway. Here she writes: «Death is scary. It’s

what I fear most of all, just now. I don’t want to leave

my friends and my family. I don’t want to leave them

behind, sad. I want to live more, experience more.»

Fortunately, Regine did get to experience more, live

more. Through rock concerts, her own photo exhibition,”

the best birthday party ever» and cherished moments

with family and friends, she managed to fulfil many of her

dreams in her short life. In December 2009, Regine died.

Family and friends lost a warm, wise, and funny girl – a girl

who also made a deep impact on strangers. Regine’s last

wish was to have her blog published as a book. Many of

her readers have shared that wish. The result has become

a warm, caring and reflected book about life and death, fri-

endship and love, and about the way in which a young girl

faces her own fear. For many she became a role model.

This book is based on Regine’s blog. It is an unusually

strong story, clearly bearing the mark of Regine’s own nar-

rative. The text is complemented with intense photos, most

of them taken by Regine. The texts and photos show how

talented she was. More than 30.000 people, from young

teenagers and upwards, have responded to Regine’s blog.

foreign sales: China, Germany, Russia, Korea

gyldendal litteratur /// 047


cultural history | løping, en verdenshistorie | 460 pages

thor gotaasRunning: A World History Rights: Hagen Agency:[email protected]

An original, funny, and almost improbable world his-

tory. Why do people run? Four millennia ago in Meso-

potamia, King Shulgi ran from Nippur to Ur to take part

in a religious festival. In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh had

to run to prove his vitality and to hold on to power. And

then there are the little-known naked runs, whore runs,

endurance tests at bars, backward runs, monk runs, and

the Inca Empire’s got professional runners. Thor Gotaas

shows us what running, in all its remarkable diversity, is

and has been for mankind.

b ib lio graph y: The Gypsies (2000), The First

in the Race: The History of Cross-Country Skiing

in Norway (2003), and Ski Makers: The History of

Norwegian Skis (2007).

for eign sales: runnIng (2008).

Sold to UK, Korea, Russia, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands,

Japan, Finland, Egypt, Germany, Ethiopia

It’s a unique book – a world his-tory that will come as a revelation

to everyone who reads it. The author guides the reader with

numerous remarkable and curious stories through the history.

The reviewers’ wrote: “... it is an impressive marathon that Gotaas has completed, a book that many will enjoy reading, both runners

and anti-runners, for that matter.” Dagbladet

048 /// kolon norwegian novels and short stories

short stories | talent for lykke | 40 pages | october 2011

ari behnA Talent for Happiness

A Talent for Happiness puts Ari Behn back where he star-

ted his literary career. This year’s book contains a hand-

ful of stories depicting love and death, family life and

experimental relationships, assistant workers, soldiers

at war and a deeply missed father who sends a post card

from the Nile. A common denominator for all of Behn’s

stories, is their precise observations of peoples’ lives and

destinies.

fo reign sales i n prev io us w o rk: Denmark: Tiderne SkifterSweden: Lindelöws FörlagGermany: BTB-RH France: Actes Sud

b i b li o gr a p hy:Sad as Hell (1999), Back Yard (2002), Passion and Rage (2006), Vivian Seving etc. (2009)

ari b eh n, (born in 1972 ) was born in Denmark, grew up in England and Northern Nor-way and now lives in Oslo. He made his debut with the short story collection , Sad as Hell in 1999 which attracted great attention and became a bestseller. In 2002 followed Back Yard, about a young man’s journey to Tanger. Behn’s first theatrical play, Workout, was staged in the spring of 2011.

kolon /// 049norwegian novels and short stories

short stories | essensen | 67 pages | october 2011

olav r. øyehaugThe Essence

Olav R. Øyehaug writes fantastic prose, and The

Essence follows in the same tracks as his wonderful first

book, The Codes from 2008. Among other topics he

writes about the sperm’s quest for eternal life, about re-

placing the electric chair with an electric pub, about an

oran gutan’s attempt to escape from the zoo, about fatal

misunderstandings, about dressing up as one self, about

a mother who pats and strokes her son into existence

from nothing. Death is massively present in Olav R.

Øyehaug’s stories, although not always in the guise one

might expect.

olav r. øyehaug (born 1977) made his literary debut

with the book The Codes in 2008. He is also trying to keep

the band The Kanossa Gang going.

Praise for The Codes:“Entertaining and original stories and a capacity for joying the optimal nonsense.” Klassekampen

“A magnificent debut.” Aftenposten on The Codes (2008)

050 /// kolon backlist

novel | vente, blinke. eit perfekt bilete av eit personleg indre | 272 pages | 2008

gunnhild øyehaugWait, BlinkA perfect picture of an inner person

Wait, Blink is a novel with several stories. We meet

Sigrid, a rather timid young literature student, and

witn ess her soul-consuming encounter with the author

Kåre, the movie director Linnea (who is going location

hunting in Copenhagen), the performance artist Trine

(whose breasts are bursting with milk), and, last but

not least, Viggo, also a literature student, who longs to

belong to someone or something. Elida, a fisherman´s

daughter, Robert, a film producer, and Göran, a literature

professor, also play their roles in this group of shivering

and at times desperate characters.

Gunnhild Øyehaug´s novel is both wide-ranging and

complex. She is a playful and frisky writer, and Wait,

Blink is both humorous and profound. It is a novel about

desire and dreams, women and men, love and what it

means to dare to be yourself.

fo reign sales:Denmark: GyldendalSweden: Forum Germany: Suhrkamp

gu n n hi ld øyehaug, born in 1975, lives in Bergen. She debuted with the poetry collection The Slave of the Blueberry in 1998. Since then she has also published a short-story collection, Knots (2004), and an essay

collection, Chair and Ecstasy (2006). She received the Bjørnson stipend in 2006 and Tanum´s women´s stipend in 2007, The New Norwegian Literary Prize 2009, The Do-bloug Prize 2009, The ”Sult” Prize 2009.

English sample translation available

“Brilliant and stylish. An impres-sive, powerful and funny first

novel!”Bergens Tidende

“Piece by piece, Øyehaug’s new novel is sometimes very good, funny, witty and tender as well

as merciless. The glue that sticks these pieces together, is unbelie-

vable.” Dag og Tid

kolon /// 051backlist

novel | rust | 741 pages | 2009

pedro carmona-alvarezRust

Pedro Carmona-Alvarez´s long awaited and extensive

novel is about topics such as exile, revenge, nostalgia,

terror and torture – as well as love, rock, coming of age,

friendship and confusion.

The first part of Rust takes place in Norway, and is

about Thomas, Passolini and Daniel who play in a rock

band and live a privileged bohemian life until one day

the enigmatic and brilliantly talented Passolini suddenly

disappears and leaves his friends in a vacuum.

The second part of the novel takes place in Buenos

Aires and tells the life stories of a group of Latin Ameri-

cans – almost all of them have lived in exile (Passolini is

one of them) – until they assassinate eight closely selec-

ted persons, military doctors, torturers and squealers.

Rust is a story about memory, exile, inheritance and

ghosts.

p e dr o ca rm o na- alvarez was born in La

Serena, Chile in 1972. As a ten year old he and his family fled to Argentina, and later the fa-

mily moved to Norway.He made his debut with a

collection of poetry i 1997,

and has since then published four well received books. He

has been awarded several literary prizes, most notably the Sult Prize 2005 and The

Norwegian Poetry Book Club Prize 2005.

“It is very rare, practically un-heard-of, for a literary consultant to come across a manuscript that is out of the ordinary. Even rarer does one think to oneself ´Fuck, this is great!´ while reading. Pedro Carmona-Alvarez´s novel Rust is one of those rare exceptions. It marks the author´s major breakthrough …”karl ove knausgård

kolon /// 053backlist

novel | en norsk tragedie | 240 pages

jonny halbergA Norwegian Tragedy

The former air force captain Håkon Sundin has gone mis-

sing and his house is in flames. His disappearance triggers

a series of events among the local residents, particularly

in the case of Mattis Grini, Håkon’s neighbour and once

best friend. In due course the rural community’s history

is unfolded through the story of its three most powerful

families, various migrant workers, the odd town origi-

nal and the local policeman. A wonderful concoction of

greed, neighbour rivalry, fistfights, love, adultery, decep-

tion and common humanity.

Jonny Halberg draws characters and lives with credi-

bility and apparent ease. With A Norwegian Tragedy he

has returned as a great storyteller, psychologist and en-

tertainer. His writing is marked by insight and an over-

flow of energy.

selected b ib lio graph y:Defiance (Trass) 1996,

The Flood (Flommen) 2000, Go to the Mountain (Gå til

fjellet) 2004.

j o nny halberg born 1962, has published two collections of short stories, seven novels

and he has also written the film scripts for The Messenger

and The Amateurs. In 1998 he was awarded The Hunger

Prize for his oevre, and The Flood was awarded the Critics’

Prize and the P2 listeners’ novel prize in 2001.

The Flood: «It is as exciting as a crime story and as entertaining as a Spielberg movie, and above all it is seductive and generous like all good literature.» ” Information/DK

052 /// kolon backlist

prose texts | anleggsprosa | 88 pages | 2010

tina åmodt Construction Prose

Construction Prose consists of a series of prose texts and

one poem, all of which convey precise observations of

work on a building site. The texts follow the building

from the first plot surveys and till the whole construction

is finished and the work team can move on. The prose pi-

eces are about labour, about carpentry, about formwork,

about companionship, about danger, about the workers’

lives, their yearnings and their hopes – all relayed with

great tenderness and technical insight.

ti n a åmodt is born in 1985 and has attended a Creative Writing course at the Univer-sity of Bergen and also at the University of Gothenburg. Construction Prose is her first publication.

fo reign s ales:Hungary

“Original and stylistically rounded workers’ prose about building

homes for people.” Dagbladet

“A solid debut. Tina Åmodt turns barracks, concrete dust and

thermos coffee into refreshing reading.”

Aftenposten

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