Jan Olav Gatland (born 14 March 1949) is a Norwegian librarian and biographer. He was born in Osterøy and grew up in Arna. He graduated with the cand.philol. degree from the University of Bergen, having studied French, German, Nordistics and theatre studies. In his early career he was a schoolteacher and civil servant, residing in Årdal,

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

and Oslo. From 1993 to 2016, he was a research librarian at the University Library of Bergen. He was also a

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. Throughout the 1980s, Gatland explored homosexuality in literature, among others in order to "find my roots". The work resulted in a book of collected poetry, ''Frå mann til mann – dikt om menns kjærleik til menn'' (1986), and the book ''Mellom linjene - homofile tema i norsk litteratur'' (1990) where he analyzed both overt and covert gay themes in Norwegian literature. In 2002 Gatland self-released the book ''Mitt halve liv. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons vennskap med Clemens Petersen – og andre menn'', about several of Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's male friendships. The Bjørnson– Clemensen friendship was included in Gatland's 2016 book ''Romantiske vennskap – sjelevenner i norsk kultur'', about "romantic friendships", also referred to as soulmates, in Norway. The book chronicled 14 same-sex, allegedly non-sexual friendships, mostly within the literary or artistic sphere. ''Romantiske vennskap'' was reviewed by several outlets. Gatland issued biographies and literary studies of

Åsmund Sveen Åsmund Sveen (28 April 1910 31 January 1963) was a Norwegian poet, novelist and literary critic. He was born in Elverum. Among his poetry collections are ''Andletet'' from 1932 and ''Eros syng'' from 1935. He published the novel ''Svartjord'' in ...

(2003, Samlaget),

Rolv Thesen Rolv Thesen (14 July 1896 – 13 September 1966) was a Norwegian poet, literary researcher and literary critic. Biography Thesen was born in Moskenes on 14 July 1896. Among his works is a three-volume biography on Arne Garborg, of which the ...

(2006, Vigmostad Bjørke),

Torvald Tu Torvald Tu (22 July 1893 – 15 January 1955) was a Norwegians, Norwegian poet, playwright, novelist and writer of humoresques. He was born in Klepp as a son of farmers. His literary debut was the 1914 play ''Storbrekkmyri'', and his first poetry ...

(2008, Samlaget), Ola Raknes (2010, Samlaget),

Olav Dalgard Olav Dalgard (June 19, 1898 – December 25, 1980) was a Norwegian literary and art historian, filmmaker, author and educator. Biography Dalgard was born Olaf Hanssen in Folldal, in Hedmark, Norway. From the age of three, he was raised at Oppdal ...

(2013, Samlaget), Mons Litleré (2018, Samlaget) and

Lars Berg Lars Kornelius Edvard Berg (16 May 1901 – 11 January 1969) was a Norwegian teacher, novelist, short story writer and playwright. He was born at Kvaløya as the son of fisherman and farmer Emil Larsen Berg and Olufine Johansen, and grew up at a ...

(2020, Samlaget).List of works
in BIBSYS A translator from French, Gatland has translated works by

Antonin Artaud Antoine Marie Joseph Paul Artaud, better known as Antonin Artaud (; 4 September 1896 – 4 March 1948), was a French writer, poet, dramatist, visual artist, essayist, actor and theatre director. He is widely recognized as a major figure of the E ...

, Joris-Karl Huysmans and

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

. He also wrote a textbook in theatre theory, ''Teaterteori'', issued in 1998 by

Pax Pax or PAX may refer to: Peace * Peace (Latin: ''pax'') ** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace ** Pax, a truce term * Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services * Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly kiss ...

. Gatland was active in several

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

organizations. He was married to linguist

Gjert Kristoffersen Gjert Kristoffersen (; 13 August 1949 in Arendal – 29 May 2021) was a Norwegian linguist, a phonetician and a professor at the University of Bergen. His native dialect of Norwegian was Arendalsk Arendalsk, Arendal dialect or Arendal Norw ...

, who died in a car accident in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatland, Jan Olav 1949 births Living people Writers from Bergen Norwegian schoolteachers Norwegian biographers Norwegian librarians Norwegian translators Translators from French Norwegian gay writers Nynorsk-language writers