Tor Ulven (14 November 1953 – 18 May 1995) was a Norwegian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. He is considered one of the major poets of the Norwegian post-war era, and won several major literary prizes in Norwegian literature.

Biography

Tor Arvid Ulven was born in Oslo, Norway. He published several poetry collections before he began writing prose. Ulven published ''Skyggen av urfuglen'' the first of five collections of poetry in 1977. His early works, consisting of traditional modernist verse poetry, were heavily influenced by the writings of French writer and poet

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

(1896–1966) and the

surrealism 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 ...

movement. As the 1980s progressed he developed a more independent voice, both stylistically and thematically. The later part of his work consists mainly of

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

. He wrote a number of essays dealing with literature, philosophy, music and visual arts. For a number of years he had lived in relative physical isolation due to illness. He committed suicide in 1995 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 ...

Influence

Joachim Trier Joachim Trier () (born 1 March 1974) is a Danish-born Norwegian film director, best known for ''Oslo, August 31st'' (2011), ''Louder Than Bombs'' (2015), ''Thelma'' (2017), and '' The Worst Person in the World'' (2021). For the latter film, he ...

's 2006 film '' Reprise'' Tor Ulven is mentioned by Philip as a writer that influenced him and is the inspiration for the character Sten Egil Dahl. In Karl Ove Knausgård's My Struggle II, Knausgård is filled with excitement when his prose is compared to Ulven's.

Awards

* Dobloug prize - 1995 * Obstfelder prize -1993 * Hartvig Kirans prize - 1990

Bibliography

* 1977: ''Skyggen av urfuglen'' ��The shadow of the primeval bird’(poems) * 1980: ''Etter oss, tegn'' ��After us, signs’(poems) * 1981: ''Forsvinningspunkt'' ��Point of disappearance’(poems) * 1987: ''Det tålmodige'' ��Patience’; literally ‘the patient [thing/phenomenon�� (poems and prose poems) * 1988: ''Gravgaver'' [‘Grave goods’">hing/phenomenon">��Patience’; literally ‘the patient [thing/phenomenon�� (poems and prose poems) * 1988: ''Gravgaver'' [‘Grave goods’(prose) * 1989: ''Søppelsolen'' [‘Trash sun’] (poems) * 1990: ''Nei, ikke det'' [‘No, not that’] (short stories) * 1991: ''Fortæring'' [‘Depletion’] (prose poems) * 1993: ''Avløsning'' (novel) - ''Replacement'' (English translation, 2012) * 1994: ''Vente og ikke se'' ��Wait and not see’(short stories) * 1995: ''Stein og speil'' ��Rock and mirror’(prose poems) * 1997: ''Essays''

References

1953 births 1995 suicides 1995 deaths Writers from Oslo 20th-century male writers 20th-century Norwegian poets Norwegian male poets Dobloug Prize winners {{norway-poet-stub Suicides in Norway