Karin Fossum (born 6 November 1954) is a Norwegian author of

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

, often referred to as the "Norwegian queen of crime".

Early life

Karin Mathisen was born on 6 November 1954 in

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

, in

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered t ...

county, Norway. She currently lives in Sylling, near

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 ...

. Fossum debuted as a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

with ''Kanskje i morgen'', her first collection published in 1974 when she was just 20. It won

Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris Tarjei Vesaas's debutantpris is a prize awarded annually for the best first literary work in Norwegian. It is awarded by the Norwegian Authors' Union, and the organisation's 9-member Literary Caucus constitutes the jury for the prize. They ch ...

. For a time she worked in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted with rehabilitation of drug addicts.

Writing career

Fossum began her literary career as a

. She is the author of the internationally successful Inspector Konrad Sejer series of crime novels, which have been translated into 25 languages and honoured with several awards.''Karin Fossum'' (Couch Medien GmbH & Co. KG.)
/ref> She won the Glass Key award for her novel ''Don't Look Back'', which also won the

Riverton Prize The Riverton Prize ( no, Rivertonprisen) is a literature award given annually to the best Norwegian crime story (novel, short story, play, original screenplay). The prize is named after the Norwegian journalist and author Sven Elvestad Sven Elv ...

, and she was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association

Gold Dagger The Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. From ...

in 2005 for ''Calling Out For You''. La ragazza del lago, internationally released as The Girl by the Lake, is a 2007 Italian thriller-drama film directed by Andrea Molaioli, in his directorial debut. It is based on the 1996 novel '' Don't Look Back'' (''Se deg ikke tilbake!'').

Bibliography

Inspector Sejer Series

(also featuring Inspector Jakob Skarre): # 1995 - ''Eva's Eye'' / ''In the Darkness'' (''Evas øye''); English translation 2012 # 1996 - '' Don't Look Back'' (''Se deg ikke tilbake!''); English translation 2002 # 1997 - '' He Who Fears the Wolf'' (''Den som frykter ulven''); English translation 2003 # 1998 - '' When the Devil Holds the Candle'' (''Djevelen holder lyset''); English translation 2004 # 2000 - '' Calling Out For You'' (''Elskede Poona''); English translation: 2005; American translation: '' The Indian Bride'', 2007 # 2002 - '' Black Seconds'' (''Svarte sekunder''); English translation 2007 # 2004 - '' The Murder of Harriet Krohn'' (''Drapet på Harriet Krohn''); English translation 2014 # 2007 - '' The Water's Edge'' (''Den som elsker noe annet''); English translation 2009 # 2008 - ''Bad Intentions'' (''Den onde viljen''); English translation 2010 # 2009 - '' The Caller'' (''Varsleren''); English translation 2011 # 2013 - ''The Drowned Boy (Carmen Zita og døden)''; English translation 2015 # 2014 - ''Hell Fire'' (''Helvetesilden''); English translation 2016 # 2016 - ''The Whisperer'' (''Hviskeren''); English translation The character of Sejer appeared in a series of Norwegian TV adaptations starring

Bjørn Sundquist Bjørn Richard Sundquist (born 16 June 1948) is a Norwegian actor, famous for TV, theatre, and movie roles. For many years he worked at Det Norske Teatret and Nationaltheateret in Oslo, and he is especially famous for the roles as Merlin and ...

in the role, with

Christian Skolmen Christian Skolmen (born 28 October 1970) is a Norwegian film, stage, television and voice actor who has been part of the Nationaltheatret since 1995, where he has appeared in The Pretenders ( Ibsen), the Three Musketeers ( Dumas) and Bakkantinnen ...

as Sejer's partner Jacob Skarre.

Other writings

*1974 - ''Kanskje i morgen'' – poetry *1978 - ''Med ansiktet i skyggen'' – poetry *1992 - ''I et annet lys'' - short stories *1994 - ''Søylen'' - short stories *1999 - ''De gales hus'' - novel *2002 - ''Jonas Eckel'' - novel *2003 - ''The Night of November 4th'' (''Natt til fjerde november''); *2006 - '' Broken'' (''Brudd''); English translation 2008 *2011 - ''Jeg kan se i mørket'' (English translation 2013 ''I Can See in the Dark'') *2012 - ''Natten er et annet land'' - poetry (''The Night is Another Land'')

Awards

1974, for ''Kanskje i morgen'' *

Rivertonprisen The Riverton Prize ( no, Rivertonprisen) is a literature award given annually to the best Norwegian crime story (novel, short story, play, original screenplay). The prize is named after the Norwegian journalist and author Sven Elvestad (1884-1934 ...

1996, for ''Se deg ikke tilbake'' * Glass Key award 1997, for ''Se deg ikke tilbake'' * Bokhandlerprisen 1997, for ''Den som frykter ulven'' * Brage Prize 2000, for ''Elskede Poona'' * Martin Beck Award 2002, for ''Svarte sekunder'' * Cappelen Prize 2003 * The Gumshoe Awards for best European crime novel 2007, for ''Når djevelen holder lyset'' (translated as: When the Devil Holds the Candle") *

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ...

in the category Mystery/Thriller for 2007 published in 2008, for ''Elskede Poona'' (translated as: "The Indian Bride")

References

External links

NRK: Karin Fossum Cappelen Damm: Karin FossumHarcourt Books: Karin Fossum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossum, Karin 1954 births Living people Norwegian crime fiction writers People from Sandefjord People from Lier, Norway Norwegian women novelists Norwegian women poets Women mystery writers 20th-century Norwegian poets 21st-century Norwegian poets 20th-century Norwegian women writers 21st-century Norwegian women writers