Per Petterson

Per Petterson
Per Petterson
	Per Petterson, winner of the 2009 Nordic Council Literature Prize
Born	18 July 1952 (age 71); Oslo, Norway
Occupation	Author, novelist
Nationality	Norwegian
Genre	Fiction

Per Petterson (born 18 July 1952 in

Scandinavian Star ferry disaster in 1990 (Petterson himself lost his mother, father, younger brother and a niece in the disaster); it won the Brage Prize for 2000. His 2008 novel Jeg forbanner tidens elv (I Curse the River of Time

) won the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2009, with an English translation published in 2010.

His breakthrough novel was Ut og stjæle hester (2003), which was awarded two top literary prizes in Norway – the

New York Times Book Review.^[1]

Petterson is a librarian. He worked as a bookstore clerk, translator and literary critic before becoming a full-time writer. He cites Knut Hamsun and Raymond Carver among his influences.^[2]

Petterson's works have been translated into almost 50 languages.

Bibliography

1987 – Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes (Aske i munnen, sand i skoa) - translated into English by Don Bartlett, 2013
1989 – Echoland (Ekkoland) translated into English by Don Bartlett, 2016
1992 – It's Fine By Me (Det er greit for meg) – translated into English by Don Bartlett, 2011
1996 – To Siberia (Til Sibir) – translated into English by Anne Born
2000 – In the Wake (I kjølvannet))
2003 – Out Stealing Horses (Ut og stjæle hester )
2004 – Månen over Porten
2008 – I Curse the River of Time (Jeg forbanner tidens elv)
2012 – I refuse. (First published with the title Jeg nekter in 2012 by Forlaget Oktober, Oslo. First published in English in 2014 by Harvill Secker, Random House, London; translated by Don Bartlett.)
2015 – Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, translated by Don Bartlett (first story collection re-issued 7 April 2015, by Graywolf Press.)
2015 – I Refuse, translated by Don Bartlett (7 April 2015 Graywolf Press, first printing in the United States.)
2018 – Men in My Situation, translated by Ingvild Burkey. (First published in English by Harvill Secker/Penguin Random House UK in 2021; First published with the title Menn i min situasjon in Norway by Forlaget Oktober AS in 2018.)
2021 – Mitt Abruzzo. Journal 21.1 – 18.7.2021. (Published in Norwegian by Forlaget Oktober in 2021; biography; 424 pages.)

Awards and Prizes

Nordic Council Literature Prize, 2009
Brage Prize, 2008
Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, 2008
International Dublin Literary Award, 2007
One of the 5 Best Fiction Books of 2007, New York Times
One of the 10 Best Fiction Books of 2007, Time Magazine
A New York Library Book to Remember, 2007
Le Prix Mille Pages, 2007
Le Prix Litteraire Europeen Madeleine Zepter, 2007
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, 2006
Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature, 2003
Norwegian Booksellers' Prize, 2003
Brage Prize, 2000

References

^ The 10 Best Books of 2007 New York Times Book Review
^ Richard Allen Greene Norwegian author reveals secrets Wednesday, 2 November 2005 BBC News [1]

External links

Novelist Per Petterson on Voice, Landscape and His "New" Novel, To Siberia – Tom Christie in LA Weekly, December 9, 2008
Per Petterson Archived 2017-03-14 at the Wayback Machine at Aschehoug Agency
Per Petterson at Forlaget Oktober
Bookbrowse.com – Book Summary and Media Reviews for Out Stealing Horses
"A Northern Light: Per Petterson's Poignant Family Tales Have Placed Him on the Literary Map" – Bob Thompson, Washington Post Staff Writer, December 26, 2007
PEN World Voices: Language Within Silence, Joy E. Stocke
"Per Petterson: A Family Approach To Fiction" by Lynn Neary,
NPR
, September 26, 2010
"Late and Soon. The novels of Per Petterson". By James Wood, The New Yorker, December 10, 2012.

Reviews

I Curse the River of Time – Bob Thompson in The Washington Post, August 10, 2010
I Curse the River of Time – Rachel Cusk in The Guardian, July 10, 2010
I Curse the River of Time – Stacey D'Erasmo in The New York Times, August 13, 2010
I Curse the River of Time – Susan Salter Reynolds in Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2010
Out Stealing Horses – Thomas McGuane in The New York Times, June 24, 2007
Out Stealing Horses – Paul Binding in The Independent, November 6, 2005
Book review of Out Stealing Horses at Prairieprogressive.com
I Refuse – The Daily Beast, August 20, 2015

[1] The 10 Best Books of 2007 New York Times Book Review

[2] Richard Allen Greene Norwegian author reveals secrets Wednesday, 2 November 2005 BBC News [1]

[1]

[2]

v t e Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
1960s	1962: The Days of His Grace – Eyvind Johnson 1963: Under the North Star 3: Reconciliation – Väinö Linna 1964: The Ice Palace – Tarjei Vesaas 1965: From Hell to Paradise – Olof Lagercrantz and The Good Hope – William Heinesen 1966: Diwan on the Prince of Emgion – Gunnar Ekelöf 1967: Nye noveller – Johan Borgen 1968: Flight of the Eagle – Per Olof Sundman 1969: The Legionnaires – Per Olov Enquist
1970s	1970: Anna, I, Anna – Klaus Rifbjerg 1971: Coast of Slaves, Ships of Slaves & Islands of Slaves – Thorkild Hansen 1972: Sju ord på tunnelbanan – Karl Vennberg 1973: Kersantin poika – Veijo Meri 1974: Uden mål – og med – Villy Sørensen 1975: Siinä näkijä missä tekijä – Hannu Salama 1976: Að laufferjum & Að brunnum – Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson 1977: I de mörka rummen, i de ljusa – Bo Carpelan 1978: Dalen Portland – Kjartan Fløgstad 1979: Pubertet – Ivar Lo-Johansson
1980s	1980: Vredens barn – Sara Lidman 1981: Hauströkkrið yfir mér – Snorri Hjartarson 1982: Samuels bok – Sven Delblanc 1983: Om fjorten dage – Peter Seeberg 1984: The Christmas Oratorio – Göran Tunström 1985: A Day in Ostrobothnia – Antti Tuuri 1986: Líkasum – Rói Patursson 1987: Hudløs himmel – Herbjørg Wassmo 1988: Justice Undone – Thor Vilhjálmsson 1989: Roman 1987 – Dag Solstad
1990s	1990: For the Living and the Dead – Tomas Tranströmer 1991: The Sun, My Father – Nils-Aslak Valkeapää 1992: Night Watch – Fríða Á. Sigurðardóttir 1993: Byen og verden – Peer Hultberg 1994: Blackwater – Kerstin Ekman 1995: Angels of the Universe – Einar Már Guðmundsson 1996: Hva skal vi gjøre i dag og andre noveller – Øystein Lønn 1997: Bang. En roman om Herman Bang – Dorrit Willumsen 1998: After Having Spent a Night Among Horses – Tua Forsström 1999: Queen's Gate – Pia Tafdrup
2000s	2000: Drømmebroer – Henrik Nordbrandt 2001: The Discoverer – Jan Kjærstad 2002: The Half Brother – Lars Saabye Christensen 2003: Revbensstäderna – Eva Ström 2004: Juoksuhaudantie – Kari Hotakainen 2005: The Blue Fox – Sjón 2006: The Ocean – Göran Sonnevi 2007: Drömfakulteten – Sara Stridsberg 2008: Baboon – Naja Marie Aidt 2009: I Curse the River of Time – Per Petterson
2010s	2010: Purge – Sofi Oksanen 2011: Between the Trees – Gyrðir Elíasson 2012: Days in the History of Silence – Merethe Lindstrøm 2013: The Prophets of Eternal Fjord – Kim Leine 2014: Mirage 38 – Kjell Westö 2015: Wakefulness, Olav's Dreams & Weariness – Jon Fosse 2016: Songs and Formulae – Katarina Frostenson 2017: Memories of Love – Kirsten Thorup 2018: Hotel Silence – Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir 2019: Efter Solen – Jonas Eika
2020s	2020: Who killed Bambi? – Monika Fagerholm 2021: Flower Valley – Niviaq Korneliussen 2022: Om udregning af rumfang – Solvej Balle
List of Nordic Council's Literature Prize winners and nominees

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