Steffen Kverneland (born 14 January 1963) is a Norwegian illustrator and comics writer. He was born in
Haugesund
Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...
, and settled 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 ...
from 1987.
[
He has specialized on creating comics series based on classical literature. Among his early albums are ''De knyttede never'' from 1993 based on a novel by ]Øvre Richter Frich
Øvre Richter Frich (24 March 1872 – 13 May 1945), full name Gjert Øvre Richter Frich, was a Norwegian reporter, newspaper editor and crime fiction writer. He was one of the most popular writers of crime fiction in Norway during the interw ...
, and four volumes of '' Amputerte klassikere''.
He was awarded 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 Priz ...
for non-fiction in 2013, for the biography ''Munch'', a collection of his albums based on the life of painter Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...
. ''Munch'' has been translated into several languages, including French, Dutch, German, Polish, Danish and Korean, supported by Norla, the foundation for Norwegian Literature Abroad.[
]
Early publications
Kverneland published the comics strip ''Peer Grynt'' in the magazine ''Konk'' in 1980, when he was sixteen years old. In 1982 his strip ''Den moderne Odysseen'', with the character "Karsten Zarathustra", was published in the magazine ''Brage'', under pen name "S. Susej". During the period 1989-1991 he published various comics strips in the magazine ''Norsk MAD''. Among these were ''Rotta Rolf'', ''Ynglinge Saga'', and ''Trikkekonduktøren''.[ He also contributed to the newspapers '']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 newsp ...
'' and ''Dag og Tid
Dag, or variant forms, may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''DAG'' (American TV series), 2000–2001
* ''Dag'' (Norwegian TV series), 2010–2015
* ''DAG'' (newspaper), a former free Dutch newspaper
* DAG (band), an American funk band
* D ...
'', and to the magazines ''Vagant'' and ''Inside Data''.[
]
Adaptation of literary works
Among Kverneland's specialties is the adaptation of classical literary texts into comics strips or albums. His album ''De knyttede never'' was awarded the Sproing Award The Sproing Award is awarded by Norsk Tegneserieforum (NTF), an organisation to promote interest and understanding for comics in Norway. Since 1987, the award has been presented for the ''Best Norwegian Strips'', a comic strip or comic book by a No ...
in 1993. Further, he developed a series of "amputated classics", from 1994 onwards.
The clenched fists
''De knyttede never'' ( en, The clenched fists) is an action novel from 1911, written by Øvre Richter Frich
Øvre Richter Frich (24 March 1872 – 13 May 1945), full name Gjert Øvre Richter Frich, was a Norwegian reporter, newspaper editor and crime fiction writer. He was one of the most popular writers of crime fiction in Norway during the interw ...
. It is the first of a series of 21 novels about the character "Jonas Fjeld", an athletic physician and adventurer. Kverneland had the first pages of his adaptation published in the magazine ''TEGN'' in 1991. The album was issued in 1993, and earned him the Sproing Award for best Norwegian comics series in 1993.[
During the creation process Kverneland had to do some historical research in order to get buildings, interior, clothing, historical setting etc. as correct as possible. He visited ]Bank of Norway
Norges Bank / Noregs Bank is the central bank of Norway. The bank shall promote economic stability in Norway. Norges Bank also manages the Government Pension Fund of Norway and the bank’s own foreign exchange reserves.
History
The history of ...
to prepare for the bank robbery scene, and studied photos of old trains for the scenes from the recently opened Bergen Line
The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway ( no, Bergensbanen or nn, Bergensbana), is a long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, ...
. The "new" City hall, location for a reception held for the South Pole Expedition described in the novel, was pure fictional, as there was no new City Hall in Oslo in 1911.
Amputated classics
* ''Amputerte klassikere'' (album, 1994)
* ''Amputerte klassikere II'' (album, 1996)
* ''Amputerte klassikere III'' (album, 1999)
* ''Garborg & co'' (2001)
* ''Amputerte klassikere IV'' (album, 2001)
Comics biographies
Kverneland received a two years public grant in 2003.
Olaf Gulbransson
He published the album ''Olaf G. '' in 2004, a cooperation with Lars Fiske
Lars Fiske (born 21 July 1966) is a Norwegian comics writer and artist, and creator of picture books. He was born in Oslo and is married to illustrator and writer Anna Fiske.
Fiske created the album ''Matje: debutanten'' in 1996, and the follow ...
. The album is an adaptation of the biography of illustrator and cartoonist Olaf Gulbransson
Olaf Leonhard Gulbransson (26 May 1873 in Oslo18 September 1958 in Tegernsee, West Germany) was a Norwegian artist, painter and designer. He is probably best known for his caricatures and illustrations.
Biography
From 1885-93, he trained at the ...
,[ and won the Sproing Award for 2004,][ in addition to other prizes. It was translated into German language, and the translation into Swedish resulted in the comics award Urhunden in 2008.][
]
Edvard Munch
The album series ''Kanon'' from 2006 onwards was again a cooperation between Fiske and Kverneland, where they made comics biographies of the painters Kurt Schwitters
Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany.
Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, pain ...
and Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images.
His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...
.[ The album ''Kanon 3'' earned them the Sproing Award in 2009.][ The biographical book ''Munch'' from 2013, based on the ''Kanon'' albums, was awarded 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 Priz ...
.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kverneland, Steffen
1963 births
Living people
People from Haugesund
Norwegian illustrators
Norwegian caricaturists
Norwegian comics writers