Ragnar Hovland (born 15 April 1952 in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

) is a Norwegian novelist, essayist, poet, and writer of children's books.

Personal life

Hovland was born in

to priest Håkon Hovland and schoolteacher Sigrid Indrebø, and grew up in

Strandvik Strandvik is a village in the municipality of Bjørnafjorden in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies on the northern shore of the Bjørnafjorden, about east of Osøyro (across the fjord) and about the same distance southeast of the village ...

and Luster. He was married to Sabine Angelika Rolka from 1978 to 1992, and to Tove Olaug Bakke since 1996.

Career

Hovland made his literary debut in 1979, with the novel '. The book follows four young boys from secondary school to college. Their interests circle around

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

, alcohol, a dose of politics and girls. He followed up with the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

collection ' (1981). The collection includes the stories "Dei siste beat-poetane i Midthordaland", where two wannabe poets are expelled from the gang and instead read their works for a herd of wet sheep; further "Sommarens blå flygel", where two young lovers are surprised by the boy's father, who expresses concern that they could catch a

cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

since they lie naked on the ground. In the

surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

story "Songen om Emilia", a young man finds a dead body on the floor three days in a row, and is unable to get rid of the corps, even if he pushes them into the cupboard every time. The novel ''Sveve over vatna'' (1982) is set in Bergen, and the protagonist is a student who gets involved in various strange adventures. 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 ...

in 1992 for the children's book ''Ein motorsykkel i natta''. He received 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 2001, for the novel ''Ei vinterreise''.

Awards

1992. *

2001 *

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 ...

2008 * Bastian Prize for Children's and Young-Adult Books 2008

Bibliography

; About Ragnar Hovland * Halvor Folgerø og Finn Tokvam ''Ler dei no, så har eg vunne: møte med Ragnar Hovland'' 2012 ; By Ragnar Hovland * ''Stille natt'' (novel) 2011 * ''Kunsten å komme heim og andre essay'' (essays) 2011 * ''Dr. Munks popleksikon'' (reference work / autobiography) 2008 * ''Fredlaus'' (children's and youth book) 2006, 2008 * ''1964'' (novel) 2006, 2007 * ''Brevet'' 2006 * ''Verdt å vite (trur eg)'' (essays) 2002 * ''Norske gleder'' (essays) 2002 * ''Ei vinterreise'' 2001 * ''Psst! : kubanske notat'' (poems) 2000 * ''Åleine i Alpane'' 1999 * ''Halve sanninga. Tre versjonar'' 1998 * ''Detektivforteljing'' (Children's book) 1998 * ''Guillaume Appollinaire'' 1996 * ''Norrøne gudar'' 1996 * '' Dr. Munks testamente'' (novel) 1996 * ''Katten til Ivar Aasen møter hunden frå Baskerville'' (poems, Children's book) 1996 * ''Eline og Julie tar ferja'' (novel) 1994 * ''Ein dag i Sherwoodskogen'' (Children's book) 1994 * ''Bjørnen Alfred og hunden Samuel forlet pappkartongen'' (Children's book) 1993 * ''Over Bali og Hawaii'' (drama) 1992 * ''Ei lang reise'' (Children's book) 1992 * ''Ein motorsykkel i natta'' (novel) 1992 * ''Gjest Bårdsen døyr åleine ved Nilens breidd'' 1992 * ''Paradis'' (novel) 1991 * ''Novelleår'' (red.) 1990 * ''Konspirasjoner'' (essays) 1990 * ''Sjølvmord i Skilpaddekaféen'' (novel) 1989 * ''Mercedes'' (Young adult) 1989 * ''Skrivestadier'' 1989 * ''Utanfor sesongen'' 1988 * ''Love me tender'' (drama) 1988 * ''Emil og kaffikokaren'' (Children's book) 1987 * ''Sjømannen, tante Elida og dei største eventyr'' (Children's book) 1986 * ''Elefantmusikken'' (poems) 1985 * ''Professor Moreaus løyndom'' (novel) 1985 * ''Bussen til Peking'' (novel) 1984 * ''Jakta på Salamanderen'' (Children's book) 1983 * ''Under snøen'' (novel) 1983 * '' Sveve over vatna'' (novel) 1982, 1988, 1995, 2008 * ''Vegen smal og porten trang'' 1981 * ''Den flygjande sykkelen og andre forteljingar'' (Children's book) 1981 * '' Dei siste beat-poetane i Midthordaland'' (novella) 1981 * ''Det får stå til'' (Children's book) 1980 * ''Alltid fleire dagar'' (novel) 1979, 1978

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovland, Ragnar 1952 births Living people Writers from Bergen Nynorsk-language writers 20th-century Norwegian novelists 21st-century Norwegian novelists Norwegian children's writers Norwegian translators Dobloug Prize winners