Astrid Hjertenæs Andersen (5 September 1915 – 21 April 1985) was a Norwegian poet and travel-writer. She is a recipient of 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 ...

(''Kritikerprisen''),

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 ...

(''Riksmålsprisen''),

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 ...

(''Doblougprisen''), and the Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl (''Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur'').

Biography

Astrid Gerd Judith Hjertenæs was born in Horten (now Borre) 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. Her father was a naval officer assigned to

Karljohansvern Karjohansvern (''Karljohansvern Orlogsstasjon, KJV'') at Horten was the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1850 to 1963. Background In 1818, it was decided to establish a naval base in Horten. It was first called ''Hortens verft'', an ...

. She attended a secretary and journalist school for women (''Hallings sekretær- og journalistskole for damer''). She later worked as a typist and journalist for ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...

'', Norway's largest newspaper. In 1939, she married the painter Snorre Andersen (1914–1979), who later illustrated several of her poetry collections. Her work contained nature poems written to her husband's watercolors. Dating from 1942, she devoted herself entirely writing. Her poems appeared often in both ''

'' and ''

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 ...

''. From the 1950s, Andersen wrote in the modernist direction of Norwegian post-war poetry. She had studied American poetry and drama during a one-year scholarship at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. The poems show a clear connection to the symbolism of the past century and were often inspired by music and visual art. A strong personal artistic style, often with the use of free forms, together with the suggestive use of images and symbols, characterize her writings.

Awards

Astrid Andersen was awarded the

(''Kritikerprisen'') in 1964,

(''Riksmålsprisen'') in 1976 and

(''Doblougprisen'') in 1984. Additionally in 1984, she received the Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl (''Det Norske Akademi for Språk og Litteratur'').

Partial bibliography

*''De ville traner'' – poems (1945) *''De unge søylene'' – poems (1948) *''Skilpaddehagen'' – poems (1950) *''Strandens kvinner'' – poems (1955) *''Vandrersken'' – poems (1957) *''Pastoraler'' – poems (1960) *''Frokost i det grønne'' – poems (1964) *''Dr. Gnomen'' – poems (1967) *''Hyrdefløyten – epistler fra Algerie'' – travel writing 1968) *''Rosenbusken'' – poems (1972) *''Svaner og nåtid – epistler fra Island'' – travel writing (1973) *''Et våroffer'' – poems (1976) *''De tyve landskaper'' – poems (1980) *''Samlede dikt'' – poems (1985)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersen, Astrid Hjertenes 1915 births 1985 deaths People from Horten Norwegian women poets Norwegian travel writers Women travel writers Norwegian women non-fiction writers 20th-century Norwegian women writers 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners Dobloug Prize winners