Kjell Askildsen (30 September 1929 – 23 September 2021) was a Norwegian writer probably best known for his minimalistic short stories.

Personal life

Askildsen was born in Mandal as a son of bailiff and politician Arne Askildsen (1898–1982) and Aasta Håverstad (1898–1978). Before the Second World War his father was the bailiff of Mandal and

Halse og Harkmark Halse og Harkmark is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Halse, which at that time was ...

from 1928, a board member of the

Norwegian Lutheran Mission The Norwegian Lutheran Mission (''Norsk Luthersk Misjonssamband'' in Norwegian; NLM) is one of several independent Lutheran organisations based in Norway. History The organization was founded in 1891 as Det Norske Lutherske Kinamisjonsforbund ...

since 1939, and also a member of the school board and city council. During the war and

occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, his father was imprisoned in Arkivet twice, before escaping to Sweden in 1944. Two older brothers of Kjell Askildsen were held captive in

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderm ...

. After the war, Askildsen enrolled in the Independent Norwegian Brigade Group in Germany. He was married to a German woman for some time. From August 1951 to March 1968 he was married to Edith Dorothea Mathiessen, and from June 1992 he was married to Gina Giertsen. Askildsen died on 23 September 2021, at the age of 91.

Writing career

His first book, the short story collection ''Heretter følger jeg deg helt hjem'' (1953), raised controversy, especially in Mandal, for its sexual content. After that book, Asklildsen concentrated mainly on novels. He was awarded the

Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment is an annually awarded literary prize from the publishing house Aschehoug. The prize is a recognition of superior literary work. The publisher's editorial management makes the award based on their collective judgement ...

in recognition of his novel, ''Omgivelser'' (1969), which was made into the 1973 movie ''Maria Marusjka'', directed by Oddvar Bull Tuhus and starring Peter Lindgren. From 1982 on, all of Askildsen's published books have been short story collections. It is mainly these books that made him one of the most acclaimed modern writers in Norway. ''Thomas F's siste nedtegnelser til almenheten'' (1983) won him the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature. In 2006, a jury appointed by 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 ...

'' voted that collection the best prose book written in Norway during the last 25 year

He has won other awards as well, almost one for each new publication.

Norwegian bibliography

Short story collections

* 1953 - ''Heretter følger jeg deg helt hjem'' (''From now on I'll walk you all the way Home'') * 1966 - ''Kulisser'' (''Stage Sets'') * 1982 - ''Ingenting for ingenting'' (''Nothing for Nothing'') * 1983 - ''Thomas F's siste nedtegnelser til almenheten'' (''Thomas F's Last Notes to the Public'') * 1987 - ''En plutselig frigjørende tanke'' (''A Sudden Liberating Thought'') * 1991 - ''Et stort øde landskap'' (''A Great Deserted Landscape'') * 1996 - ''Hundene i Tessaloniki'' (''The Dogs of Thessaloniki'') * 1999 - ''Samlede noveller'' (''Collected Short Stories'') * 2005 - ''Alt som før'' (''Everything As Before'') * 2015 - ''Vennskapets pris'' (''The Cost of Friendship'')

Novels

* 1955 - ''Herr Leonard Leonard'' (''Mister Leonard Leonard'') * 1957 - ''Davids bror'' (''The brother of David'') * 1969 - ''Omgivelser'' (''Scenery'') * 1974 - ''Kjære, kjære Oluf'' (''Dear, dear Oluf'') * 1976 - ''Hverdag'' (''Everyday'')

Awards and prizes (selection)

*2010
Sørlandet Honorary Award
*2009 – Swedish Academy Nordic Prize *2004 – Det Norske Akademis Pris til minne om Thorleif Dahl *1997 – Oktober Prize *1996 – Brage Prize Honorary Award *1995 –

Dobloug Prize The Dobloug Prize ( sv, Doblougska priset, no, Doblougprisen) is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug (1881–1944) pursuant to his bequest. T ...

*1991 –

Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature (''Den norske Kritikerprisen for litteratur'' or ''Kritikerprisen'') is awarded by the Norwegian Literature Critics' Association (''Norsk Litteraturkritikerlag'') and has been awarded every year since 1950 ...

for ''Et stort øde landskap'' *1991 –

Aschehoug Prize The Aschehoug Prize is published annually by the Norwegian publishing house Aschehoug. The Aschehoug Prize is awarded to Norwegian authors on the basis of the merit of a recent publication. It is awarded on merit, irrespective of the publisher, bas ...

*1987 –

Riksmål Society Literature Prize The Riksmål Society Literature Prize (''Riksmålsforbundets litteraturpris'') is awarded annually by the '' Riksmålsforbundet'' for the outstanding publication in riksmål. The prize was awarded until 2002 by the ''Oslo and Bærum Riksmål Leagu ...

*1983 –

for ''Thomas Fs siste nedtegnelser til allmennheten'' *1969 –

Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment is an annually awarded literary prize from the publishing house Aschehoug. The prize is a recognition of superior literary work. The publisher's editorial management makes the award based on their collective judgement ...

* Ikaros-prisen

References

Kjell Askildsen
s biography and foreign publishers a
Aschehoug AgencyKjell Askildsen
a
Forlaget Oktober

External links

The Resistance Came to Stay. An interview with Kjell Askildsen
Video by Louisiana Channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Askildsen, Kjell 1929 births 2021 deaths People from Mandal, Norway 20th-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian male short story writers Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners Dobloug Prize winners 20th-century Norwegian short story writers 20th-century Norwegian male writers Norwegian expatriates in Sweden