Author: Johanne Elster Hanson

The 2020 International Dublin Literary Award would have announced its shortlist on 2 April, but has since been postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Among the many big names on the extensive longlist was Geir Gulliksen's novel Story of a Marriage, which caused a stir in Norway upon publication in 2015. Many viewed it … Continue reading Scenes from a marriage

In the last decade, Norwegians appear to have become connoisseurs of unhurried culture, beginning with the introduction of ‘slow-TV’ in 2009, when we discovered that live footage from a camera strapped to a moving train made for spellbinding television. Readers might place Jon Fosse’s latest novel The Other Name: Septology I-II in the same category of entertainment … Continue reading ‘Slow prose’ in the age of quarantining

Fredag 20. mars ble alle Storbritannias teatre beordret stengt på grunn av koronaviruset. Tapet av billettsalg samt mangelfulle krisepakker gjør at den engelske teaterindustrien går en uviss framtid i møte. Så gikk det som det måtte. Etter at England først hadde en helt annen tilnærming til den verdensomspennende koronakrisen, der de ønsket å satse på … Continue reading Teppefall i Storbritannia

Graham Greene once called Norway ‘a little patch of careless culture at the edge of the sea and of the forest’, and before 22 July 2011, that was how we felt – tucked away at the top of the world, inconspicuous and insignificant, the dangers playing out on the world stage always seemed a long … Continue reading One of us?

Stef Smiths A Doll's House ved Young Vic Theatre i London tar publikum med på en tidsreise der man ender opp med å stille spørsmål ved den moderne likestillingen. Å modernisere et klassisk teaterstykke er ikke noe engelskmennene gjør med letthet. I mange år var merkelappen «modern dress» nærmest for en advarsel å regne, og … Continue reading Vår tids dukkehjem

Det er ikke bare i Norge forfattere tyr til romanen for å skrive om egne erfaringer. Her er tre engelske forfattere som har utmerket seg med sine romanprosjekter de siste tre årene. Ali Smith – ÅrstidskvartettenDe siste årenes absurde politiske utvikling ser ut til å ha gitt grobunn for bøker skrevet i sanntid, en slags … Continue reading Reality Check: Møter med engelske forfattere

Bestselling authors Karl Ove Knausgaard and Vigdis Hjorth have had family members reply to their autobiographical books with their own. But where does it end? If the rise of autofiction over the past five years has led English readers to wonder whether their understanding of the novel is outdated, Norwegian readers, who are far more … Continue reading Autofiction at war: why ‘revenge novels’ are taking off in Norway

It is always strange when a foreign book published more than 20 years ago is suddenly picked up by an English-language publisher and goes on to receive rave reviews. This happened recently with the book Love by Hanne Ørstavik, a Norwegian author who, with numerous novels, essays and short stories under her belt, has long … Continue reading Love hurts

The first ever Nordic Poetry Festival (NPF) took place in October this year. This ambitious debut spanned five events across three cities, and featured the work of 21 avant-garde Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and Sami poets. One of these events, which took place at the National Centre for Writing in Norwich, saw the Nordic … Continue reading George Szirtes on the Nordic Poetry Festival: ‘The language in which you write should remain a little strange.’

Peer Gynt er kanskje det av Ibsens stykker som er vanskeligst å sette opp i utlandet, men David Hares skotske nytolkning gjør tittelkarakterens selvopptatthet brennaktuell Ibsen settes opp som aldri før i London, i stadige nye former og variasjoner. Bare det siste året har det vært et forsøk på å skape #metoo-debatt i Vildanden, en … Continue reading Trolls all love to party