Gunnar Otterbech Larsen (5 February 1900, 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 ...

– 5 November 1958) was a Norwegian journalist, writer, and translator. He worked in the newspaper ''

Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newspa ...

'' from 1923 to 1958, where he was news editor from 1930 and became editor-in-chief with

Helge Seip Helge Lunde Seip (5 March 1919 – 29 January 2004) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party and later the Liberal People's Party. He was born in Surnadal. At a young age he became involved in the Young Liberals, the youth wing of the L ...

in 1954. His first novel, ''I sommer'', was published in 1932. It was followed by ''To mistenkelige personer'' (1933), a crime novel based on actual events that took place in 1926. ''To mistenkelige personer'' was praised by many critics, including

Sigurd Hoel Sigurd Hoel (December 14, 1890 – October 14, 1960) was a Norwegian author and publishing consultant, born in Nord-Odal. He debuted with the collection of short stories (The Way We Go) in 1922. His breakthrough came with (Sinners in Summertim ...

Haagen Ringnes Haagen Ringnes (10 August 1928 – 23 April 2008) was a Norwegian television journalist and non-fiction writer. Personal life Ringnes was born in Oslo to pianist Inge Rolf Ringnes and Anne Johanne Prior Bergh. He was a grandson of brewer Ellef ...

: ''"Den boken skulle jeg gjerne ha skrevet!"''. Article in 1983 edition of ''To mistenkelige personer'' by Gunnar Larsen ( Gyldendal Norsk Forlag). Both ''I sommer'' and ''To mistenkelige personer'' were inspired by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

's writings. Larsen's third novel, ''Week-end i evigheten'' (1934), was much more experimental. His later novels were ''Bull'' (1938) and ''Sneen som falt i fjor'' (1948). His poetry has been published in the books ''Dikt'' (1959) and ''En avismanns samlede poesi'' (2000). A film version of ''To mistenkelige personer'' was directed by

Tancred Ibsen Tancred Ibsen (11 July 1893 – 4 December 1978) was a Norwegian military officer, aviator, film director and screenwriter. Background Ibsen was the son of Sigurd Ibsen and Bergljot Bjørnson. He was the grandson of both Henrik Ibsen and No ...

in 1950, but showing the film in public was forbidden in the

Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian Bokmål: ''(Norges) Høyesterett''; Norwegian Nynorsk: ''(Noregs) Høgsterett''; lit. ‘Highest Court’) was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, w ...

in 1952, in order to protect one of the persons whose story it was based on. In 2007, the film was allowed to be shown in public again.

Awards

Gyldendal's Endowment 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 ...

for 1949

References

1900 births 1958 deaths Norwegian newspaper editors 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian male novelists 20th-century Norwegian male writers {{Norway-writer-stub