Per Qvale (born 1946) is a Norwegian translator and literary historian. He was born 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 of ...

. After studying in Oslo, Bergen and

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

, he was an auxiliary teacher of philosophy 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 universit ...

from 1974 to 1977 and took the

mag.art. A magister degree (also magistar, female form: magistra; from la, magister, "teacher") is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education. The magister degree arose in medieval universities in Europe and was originally equal to the ...

degree in 1981 with a thesis on

Lars Gustafsson Lars Erik Einar Gustafsson (17 May 1936 – 3 April 2016) was a Swedish poet, novelist, and scholar. Among his awards were the in 2006, the Goethe Medal in 2009, the Thomas Mann Prize in 2015, and the International Nonino Prize in Italy in 2016 ...

's ''Sprickorna i muren''. Qvale's career as a translator from English, German and Swedish started in 1972. From 1986 to 1990 he chaired the

Norwegian Association of Literary Translators Norwegian Association of Literary Translators ( no, Norsk Oversetterforening) is an association for Norwegian literary translators, founded in 1948. The association has awarded the annual Bastian Prize from 1951, for best literary translation into t ...

. His book about the theory and practice of translation, ''Fra Hieronymus til hypertekst. Oversettelse i teori og praksis'' (1998), was published in English as ''From St. Jerome to Hypertext'' (Manchester 2003). He published the essay collection ''Det umuliges kunst'' in 1991 on

Aschehoug H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises ot ...

, followed by the essay collection ''Samarkand, Sarabande, Sarajevo'' (2011) and the novels ''Trabant'' (2013) and ''Orvil'' (2020), both on Bokvennen. He was awarded the in 2002 for translating ''

The Magic Mountain ''The Magic Mountain'' (german: Der Zauberberg, links=no, ) is a novel by Thomas Mann, first published in German in November 1924. It is widely considered to be one of the most influential works of twentieth-century German literature. Mann st ...

'' and the

Bastian Prize The Bastian Prize ( no, Bastianprisen) is a prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Association of Literary Translators. The prize, established in 1951, is given for translating a published work into Norwegian language. The award is a statue made ...

in 2008 for translating '' Lotte in Weimar'' (1939), both books by

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

. In 2013 he received the . He was nominated for the Rosetta Prize in 2023. He was a jury member of the Bastian Prize as well as the

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 ...

. Qvale was inducted into the

Norwegian Academy The Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature ( no, Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur), commonly known as the Norwegian Academy, is a Norwegian learned body on matters pertaining to the modern Norwegian language in its Dano-Norwegian ...

in 2007.

References

1946 births Living people Writers from Oslo University of Oslo alumni Norwegian literary historians Translators from Swedish Translators from German Translators from English 20th-century Norwegian translators 21st-century Norwegian translators Members of the Norwegian Academy {{norway-writer-stub