Paal-Helge Haugen (born 26 April 1945) is a Norwegian poet, novelist, dramatist and children's writer who has published over 30 books. His titles have been translated into at least 20 languages. His 1968 "punktroman" or "pointillist novel," ''Anne,'' was the first in its genre and was soon considered a modern classic. In 2019, Hanging Loose Press published the first English translation of '' Anne]'', after Julia Johanne Tolo's translation of the book won the sixth annual Loose Translations Prize, jointly sponsored by Hanging Loose Press and the graduate writing program of Queens College, City University of New York.
Career
Haugen was born in
Valle, Norway, Valle,
Setesdal
Setesdal (; older name: Sætersdal) is a valley and a traditional district in Agder County in southern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Bykle, Valle, Bygland, Iveland, and Evje og Hornnes.
The Otra river flows through the ...
, and studied medicine at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top univers ...
. During the period 1965-67, Haugen was a member of the editorial team of literary magazine ''Profile''. He made his literary debut with ''Blad frå ein austleg hage'' in 1965, a translation of Japanese
haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, ...
. It was shortly followed by ''På botnen av ein mørk sommar'' in 1967, an adaptations of Chinese poems and his first collection of original poetry. Studies in film and literature took him to the United States in 1971. From 1973-1978 he taught creative writing in Norway. Since then Haugen has worked as a freelance writer.
Haugen has published eighteen volumes of poetry, including two volumes of selected poems and one of collected poems since 1967. His works have been translated into a 20th-century language. He has collaborated with numerous artists (
Kjell Nupen,
Grete Nash,
Olaf Chr. Jensen,
Jens Johannesen,
Jan Groth, and others) and both Norwegian and international composers (
Iannis Xenakis
Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...
,
Atli Heimir Sveinsson
Atli Heimir Sveinsson (21 September 1938 – 20 April 2019) was an Icelandic composer.
Atli Heimir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland and started piano lessons at the age of 10. He studied piano with Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson at the Reykjavík Co ...
,
Kjell Habbestad
Kjell Habbestad (born 13 April 1955 in Bømlo) is a Norwegian contemporary composer.
Career
Habbestad studied church music at the Norwegian Academy of Music from 1976 to 1979 and graduated with a diploma from the composition course at the same ...
,
Bjørn Kruse,
Arne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim (20 June 1931 – 5 June 2010) was a Norwegian composer. Nordheim received numerous awards for his compositions, and from 1982 lived in the Norwegian government's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. H ...
,
Lillebjørn Nilsen
Bjørn "Lillebjørn" Falk Nilsen (born 21 December 1950) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician. He was born in Oslo, and is considered by some to be the leading "voice of Oslo", thanks to numerous classic songs about the city from th ...
and others). He has been chairman of the
Norwegian National Film Selection (1980–85), chairman of the
Norwegian Authors Association Literary Council and deputy chairman of the
Norwegian Playwrights' Association.
''Det overvintra lyset'', first published in 1985, won both the
Gyldendal's Endowment and the
Nynorsk Literature Prize
The Nynorsk Literature Prize is awarded annually by Noregs Mållag, Det Norske Teatret and Det Norske Samlaget for the best book in either Nynorsk or dialect. The award is presented for the best novel, poetry, novellas, or drama in the past year.
...
for the year’s best book written in
Nynorsk
Nynorsk () () is one of the two written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language ( no, Landsmål) parallel to the Dano- ...
. He received the
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 ...
in 1987, and was awarded the
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 ...
in 1990. He received the
Brage Prize
The Brage Prize (Norwegian: ''Brageprisen'') is a Norwegian literature prize that is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation (''Den norske bokprisen''). The prize recognizes recently published Norwegian literature.
The Brage Pri ...
in 1994 for ''Sone 0''. Haugen was nominated for the
Nordic Council's Literature Prize
The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth ...
in 1991 for ''Meditasjonar over Georges de La Tour''.
In January 2009 King
Harald V of Norway
Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991.
Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the l ...
made Haugen a Knight, First Class of the
Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav, awarding him for his work for Norwegian literature and culture.
Awards
*
Gyldendal's Endowment 1985
*
Nynorsk Literature Prize
The Nynorsk Literature Prize is awarded annually by Noregs Mållag, Det Norske Teatret and Det Norske Samlaget for the best book in either Nynorsk or dialect. The award is presented for the best novel, poetry, novellas, or drama in the past year.
...
1985
*
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 ...
1987
*
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 ...
1990
*
Cappelen Prize 1991
*
Brage Prize
The Brage Prize (Norwegian: ''Brageprisen'') is a Norwegian literature prize that is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation (''Den norske bokprisen''). The prize recognizes recently published Norwegian literature.
The Brage Pri ...
1992
*
Aschehoug Prize 2008
*
Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav 2009
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haugen, Paal-Helge
1945 births
Living people
People from Valle, Norway
Nynorsk-language writers
Norwegian children's writers
Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners
20th-century Norwegian poets
Norwegian male poets
20th-century Norwegian novelists
21st-century Norwegian novelists
University of Oslo alumni
Dobloug Prize winners
Norwegian male novelists
20th-century Norwegian male writers
21st-century Norwegian male writers