Per Petterson (born 18 July 1952 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 ...

) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

novelist. His debut book was ''Aske i munnen, sand i skoa'' (1987), a collection of short stories. He has since published a number of novels to good reviews. ''To Siberia'' (1996), set in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, was published in English in 1998 and nominated for the

Nordic Council 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 ...

. ''I kjølvannet'', translated as ''In the Wake'' (2002), is a young man's story of losing his family in the ''

Scandinavian Star MS ''Scandinavian Star'', originally named MS ''Massalia'', was a car and passenger ferry built in France in 1971. The ship was set on fire on April 7, 1990, killing 159 people. The official investigation determined the fire had been caused by a ...

'' ferry disaster in 1990 (Petterson himself lost his mother, father, younger brother and a niece in the disaster); it won 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 2000. His 2008 novel ''Jeg forbanner tidens elv'' ('' I Curse the River of Time'') won the Nordic Council Literature Prize for 2009, with an English translation published in 2010. His breakthrough novel was ''Ut og stjæle hester'' (2003), which was awarded two top literary prizes in Norway – 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. ...

and the Booksellers’ Best Book of the Year Award. The 2005 English language translation, '' Out Stealing Horses'', was awarded the 2006 ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize and the 2007

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

(the world's largest monetary literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English, €100,000). ''Out Stealing Horses'' was named one of the 10 best books of the year in the 9 December 2007 issue of the ''

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

''. Petterson is a librarian. He has worked as a bookstore clerk, translator and literary critic before becoming a full-time writer. He cites

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...

and

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mi ...

among his influences.Richard Allen Greene ''Norwegian author reveals secrets'' Wednesday, 2 November 2005 BBC New

/ref> Petterson's works have been translated into almost 50 languages.

Bibliography

* 1987 – ''Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes'' (''Aske i munnen, sand i skoa) - ''translated into English by Don Bartlett, 2013 * 1989 – Echoland (''Ekkoland'') translated into English by Don Bartlett (translator), Don Bartlett, 2016 * 1992 – ''It's Fine By Me'' (''Det er greit for meg'') – translated into English by Don Bartlett (translator), Don Bartlett, 2011 * 1996 – ''To Siberia'' (''Til Sibir'') – translated into English by Anne Born * 2000 – ''In the Wake'' (''I kjølvannet'')) * 2003 – '' Out Stealing Horses'' (''Ut og stjæle hester'' ) * 2004 – ''Månen over Porten'' * 2008 – '' I Curse the River of Time'' (''Jeg forbanner tidens elv'') * 2012 – ''I refuse (Jeg nekter)'' * 2015 – ''Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes,'' translated by Don Bartlett (first story collection re-issued April 7, 2015, by Graywolf Press.) * 2015 – ''I Refuse,'' translated by Don Bartlett (April 7, 2015 Graywolf Press, first printing in the United States.)

Awards and Prizes

, 2009 *

, 2008 *

, 2007
One of the 5 Best Fiction Books of 2007
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''
One of the 10 Best Fiction Books of 2007
''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

''
A New York Library Book to Remember, 2007
*Le Prix Mille Pages, 2007
Le Prix Litteraire Europeen Madeleine Zepter
2007 * ''Independent'' Foreign Fiction Prize, 2006 *

, 2003 *

Norwegian Booksellers' Prize The Norwegian Booksellers' Prize (''Bokhandlerprisen'') is a literature prize awarded annually by the Norwegian Booksellers Association after voting among all who work in Norwegian bookstores. The prize is awarded for one of the year's books in t ...

, 2003 *

, 2000

References

External links

Novelist Per Petterson on Voice, Landscape and His "New" Novel, To Siberia
– Tom Christie in ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'', December 9, 2008
Per Petterson
a
Aschehoug AgencyPer Petterson
a
Forlaget OktoberBookbrowse.com – Book Summary and Media Reviews for ''Out Stealing Horses''
– Bob Thompson, ''Washington Post'' Staff Writer, December 26, 2007
''PEN World Voices'': Language Within Silence, Joy E. Stocke

Per Petterson: A Family Approach To Fiction
by Lynn Neary,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, September 26, 2010
"Late and Soon. The novels of Per Petterson"
By James Wood, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', December 10, 2012.

Reviews

''I Curse the River of Time''
– Bob Thompson in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', August 10, 2010
''I Curse the River of Time''
–

Rachel Cusk Rachel Cusk (born 8 February 1967) is a British novelist and writer. Childhood and education Cusk was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon to British people, British parents in 1967, the second of four children with an older sister and t ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', July 10, 2010
''I Curse the River of Time''
–

Stacey D'Erasmo Stacey D'Erasmo (born 1961) is an American author and literary critic. Biography D'Erasmo was born in 1961 in New York City. She received a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.A. from New York University in English and American literature. From 19 ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', August 13, 2010
''I Curse the River of Time''
–

Susan Salter Reynolds Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

in ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', August 21, 2010
''Out Stealing Horses''
–

Thomas McGuane Thomas Francis McGuane III (born December 11, 1939) is an American writer. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors. He is a member of the American A ...

in ''The New York Times'', June 24, 2007
''Out Stealing Horses''
–

Paul Binding Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', November 6, 2005
Book review of ''Out Stealing Horses'' at Prairieprogressive.com
– ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'', August 20, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Petterson, Per 1952 births Living people 21st-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners Nordic Council Literature Prize winners Writers from Oslo Norwegian librarians