F I C T I O N, C R I M E & N O N-FICTION SPRING 2011
Founded in 2004, we are proud to represent more than 200 authors from Oktober and Aschehoug publishing houses.
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Crime
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Kurt Aust
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Birger Baug
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Tom Egeland
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Jan-Erik Knudsen
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Tom Kristensen
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Trude Teige
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Jorun Thørring
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Ă˜ystein Wiik
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A s c h eh o u g Fi c t i o n
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O ktob e r Fi c t i o n
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N a r r at i ve N o n - Fi c t i o n
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Kurt Aust
The Invisible Brothers Foreign rights sold: Bulgarian (Perseus), Danish (Klim), Dutch (Signature), French (City Éditions), German (Rowohlt), Korean (Random House), Russian (Arabesque), Spanish (Destino, Planeta).
Original title: De usynlige brødre First published: 2006 Pages: 492
Mai-Britt Fossen, a publishing editor from Oslo, kills herself at a Parisian street café. In front of a group of shocked guests, she puts a pistol in her mouth and pulls the trigger. Her ex-husband Even Vik, a professor of mathematics , is convinced she did not kill herself by her own free will. He travels to Paris and discovers that Mai-Britt was writing a book about Isaac Newton, and that she has left behind a trail of secret messages and codes – codes which can only be solved with the sharp mind of a mathematician.
The Alchemy of Revenge Foreign rights sold: Danish (Klim), German (Rowohlt)
Original title: Hevnens alkymi First published: 2009 Pages: 544
Even Vik is under surveillance. The Invisible Brothers, a secret brotherhood, seem to know everything – where he goes, who he talks to, what he does. Also, they have sent him a threatening letter demanding that he solve the code in an old piece of writing by Isaac Newton. If not, Vik’s son Stig will suffer.
KurtAust Aust Kurt Danish-born Kurt Aust 1955) lived Norway since 1982. made Danish-born Kurt Aust (b.(b. 1955) hashas lived in in Norway since 1982. HeHe made hishis debut 1999 with widely acclaimed historical crime novel Vredens dag. debut in in 1999 with thethe widely acclaimed historical crime novel Vredens dag. HisHis third crime novel, Hjemsøkt, was awarded Norwegian Riverton Prize well third crime novel, Hjemsøkt, was awarded thethe Norwegian Riverton Prize as as well Glass Key - the prize best Scandinavian crime novel. as as thethe Glass Key - the prize forfor best Scandinavian crime novel.
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Birger Baug
Punishment Foreign rights sold: Denmark (Modtryk), Dutch (AW Bruna)
Police inspector Halvor Heming is torn between his family, the crime division and his own past, as the most intricate case of his life falls into his lap. What originally appears to be a heart attack at a health resort suddenly becomes a whole lot more than that. Traces at the crime scene point towards one of Oslo’s most hard-boiled criminals, but where has the man disappeared to? After two days of intense search, another murder is committed, and Halvor is beginning to fear he is chasing a ghost. Until he starts to unravel the 24-year-old story about Kris.
Original title: Straff First published: 2008 Pages: 256
Lost Paradise Foreign rights sold: Denmark (Modtryk), Dutch (AW Bruna)
While on holiday on the island Vega in Northern Norway, police inspector Halvor Heming is told the story of an unsolved death. Four years earlier a body was found on a nearby uninhabited island, after lying exposed to the harsh weather for about three years. Back in Oslo, engaged in a new case, Halvor Heming gradually discovers links to the body found up north, and he is soon dragged into a challenging murder case.
Original title: Paradis tapt First published: 2009 Pages: 336
Birger Baug (born 1969) a background politicalscience, science,literary literaryscience science and journalism. (b 1969) hashas a background ininpolitical journalist and and head head attendant attendant in in aa newspaper, newspaper, he he became became After seven years as aa journalist public relations manager in the aid agency Plan Norge in 2000.
Crime / Spring 2010
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Tom Egeland
Gospel of Lucifer Foreign rights sold: Bulgarian (Perseus), Czech (Euromedia), Danish (Rosinante), Dutch (De Geus), German (Goldman), Greek (Livanis), Icelandic (Forlagid), Korean (Random House), Polish (Skrypt), Russian (Azbooka), Turkish (Pegasus)
Original title: Lucifers evangelium First published: 2009 Pages: 386
Neurotic, quirky archaeologist Bjørn Beltø discovers a manuscript that turns out to be part of the Gospel of Lucifer. Three people are killed in a dreadful way: they are emptied of blood. Bjørn realizes that he not only has to hide the manuscript and escape his pursuers, he must also get to the bottom of a 4500 year old mystery.
Guardians of the Covenant Foreign rights sold: British English (John Murray), Bulgarian (Perseus), Chinese (Wisdom Distribution Service Corp.), Czech (Euromedia), Danish (Bazar/Rosinante), Dutch (De Geus), Finnish (Bazar), French (City Éditions), German (Goldman), Greek (Livanis), Icelandic (Forlagid), Italian (Bompiani), Polish (Skrypt), Russian (Arabesque) Spanish (Ediciones B), Swedish (Bazar), Turkish (Pegasus)
Original title: Paktens Voktere First published: 2007 Pages: 528
Bjørn Beltø leads an average life until the day he finds ancient Viking parchments containing rune ciphers and code riddles. They lead him on a quest from wild Icelandic landscape and Norwegian stave churches to Egyptian tombs, antiquarian book stores in Rome and even across the Atlantic to America, and a mysterious palace in the Caribbean.
Tom Egeland After making his debut with the horror novel Ragnarok in 1988, Tom Egeland (b. 1959) has written seven critically acclaimed thrillers. His books have been printed in several editions, and have been translated into 20 languages so far. Circle’s End has also been on the bestseller list in several countries. Egeland has a background in Norwegian press and broadcasting.
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Circle’s End Original title: Sirkelens ende First published: 2001 Pages: 394 Foreign rights sold: Bulgarian (Perseus), Chinese (Wisdom Distribution Service Corp.), Czech (Euromedia), Danish (Bazar/Rosinante), Dutch (De Geus), English world rights (John Murray), Estonian (Ersen), Finnish (Bazar), French (City Éditions), German (Random House), Greek (Livanis), Icelandic (JPV), Italian (Bompiani), Korean (Bookhouse Publishing Corp), Polish (Skrypt), Russian (Arabesque), Spanish (Ediciones B), Swedish (Bazar), Turkish (Pegasus)
A medieval Norwegian monastery conceals an archaeological sensation - a gold relic containing a 2000-year-old manuscript that might well change the course of world history. Deeply skeptical, archaeologist Bjørn Beltø sets out to trace the relic’s origins. Coined by critics “the Norwegian Da Vinci Code”, Circle’s End is a different kind of thriller, in which myth, mystery, history and theology are inextricably intertwined.
“A fantastic historical thriller. A breathtaking adventure” To Paron, Greece
“Wow! If you’re one of those who’d wish to be able to read The Da Vinci Code again for the first time, this is your chance” Fyens Stiftstidende, Denmark
Crime / Spring 2010
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Jan-Erik Knudsen
Memo From A Murderer Original title: Memo fra en morder First published: 2010 Pages: 384
Only a week apart, two foreign prostitutes are murdered in Oslo. A letter from the murderer emerges, and Samson and his colleague Bernhard Fiske realize that they are dealing with an intelligent, and most likely, mentally disturbed person. Samson senses that the murderer may be after him, and that he is playing a game that eerily pulls him further into the case.
“Knudsen is always welcome with more tense excitement of his usual quality. If he keeps this up, he will quickly put himself in the top echelons of Norwegian crime writers. This is almost impossible to ignore.� Aftenposten
Jan-Erik Knudsen (b 1957) is a teacher and a training instructor. This is his second crime novel. Knudsen unites characteristics from several similar directions of the modern thriller genre: the police novel, the high political thriller and the psychological thriller.
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Tom Kristensen
The Deep Original title: Dypet First published: 2010 Pages: 350
There’s a storm in the North Sea. At 266 feet, two divers cut the wires between the oil rig Canton Driller and the wellhead. But something goes horribly wrong. One of the divers dies, the other one, Tord Stensen, miraculously survives. In Oslo, the Minister of Oil and Energy receives a threatening letter: an oil rig will sink if the development of the Troll area does not end immediately. Soon after Canton Driller sinks. Sabotage, or a mere coincidence? A few days later the Minister receives a second letter: another oil rig is at risk of going down if demands are not met.
“No Norwegian writer writes more marvelous and thrilling prose (…) Tom Kristensen is definitely in a league of his own.” Dagbladet
Tom Kristensen can look back on a career that includes banking, industrial management in Norway and abroad, and international financial consultancy. His first book, A Killing (2001), a thriller set in the world of stock markets and finance, was an unqualified success with critics and public alike. The Deep is his seventh thriller.
Crime / Spring 2010
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Trude Teige
Somebody Knows
Original title: Noen vet First published: 2009 Pages: 288
Journalists pursuing headlines. Politicians evading responsibility. The betrayal towards innocent children. This is the story of the brutal revenge of an unwanted child. An old couple is found murdered at a farm in Asker, and political journalist in Channel 4, Kajsa Coren, is sent off to the crime scene. Gradually Kajsa realizes that there is a connection between the dead couple and a scandal connected to an orphanage. Koren is close to pulling off a scoop. However, the killer is much closer than she suspects.
A Helping Hand
Original title: En hjelpende hånd First published: 2010 Pages: 256
An old lady reveals that someone is ‘getting rid of’ patients. Shortly after, the old lady dies, and a nurse who has looked into the woman’s allegations disappears. At the same time, political journalist Kajsa Koren is involved in another criminal case: A ten year old boy who has been to football practice is reported missing. When Kajsa begins to understand the connection between the cases, it becomes a matter of life and death – also for Kajsa.
Trude Teige (b. 1960) is a translator and a journalist. She has been a presenter and a political journalist in TV2 since 1992. Her literary debut, the historical novel The Sea Sings from 2002, was followed by Leaning Against the Wind two years later.
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Jorun Thørring
The Glass Dolls Foreign rights sold: Dutch (Davidsfonds), German (DTV), Swedish (Natur och Kultur)
One spring day a young female student is found dead on a bench in Tromsø. Shortly after, another woman is found drowned. The Sami police investigator Aslak Eira can’t shake off his suspicion that there is a connection to another disappearance one year earlier. While the police seem to be fumbling around in the dark, yet another young student disappears. The struggle to save the woman and reveal the murderer’s identity suddenly becomes a race against time.
Original title: Glassdukkene First published: 2006 Pages: 397
The Eye of the Fire Foreign rights sold: German (DTV), Dutch (Davidsfonds)
A fire breaks out in the city, and murders are committed. Several things point towards a connection to a fire in 1969, and Eira starts digging in the older case. Could the older fire actually have been caused by an arsonist? Is it possible that the two people who were found dead back then were murdered? Original title: Ildens øye First published: 2009 Pages: 368
Jorun Thørring (b 1955) is a specialist in gynaecology and runs a private practice. She made her debut in 2005 with The Shadow Man, which instantly became a critics’ favourite.
Crime / Spring 2010
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Øystein Wiik
Deadly Applause Original title: Dødelig applaus First published: 2010 Pages: 402 Foreign rights sold: Danish (Art People), Dutch (De Geus), German (DTV)
At the new opera house in Oslo, world famous tenor James Medina has just sung his final aria in Tosca, when real bullets are fired from somewhere in the audience. Tom Hartmann, publisher of the soon to be closed opera magazine Opera Today, only barely manages to get out from the erupting chaos. Viktor Kamarov, Medina’s dominant manager, contacts Hartmann. He wants to invest in the magazine but with the request that it from now on is fully devoted to Medina and his legacy. Hartmann travels to Vienna to learn more about the charismatic opera singer, but soon discovers that both Medina and Kamarov have gone to great lengths to hide the truth behind the success…
”Øystein Wiik writes astonishingly well.” Aftenposten
Øystein Wiik (b. 1956) is world famous for his amazing voice and has participated in a number of records and performances. British theatrical producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh hired Wiik to portray Jean Valjean, first at The Raimund Theater in Vienna and then in the original production at The Palace Theatre in London.
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A s c h eh o u g Fi c t i o n
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Ketil Bjørnstad
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Toril Brekke
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Kari F. Brænne
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Tom Egeland
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Guro Hoftun Gjestad
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Jostein Gaarder
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Magne Hovden
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Ola Jostein Jørgensen
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Jan Kjærstad
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Aasne Linnestå
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Thure Erik Lund
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Mala Naveen
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Lars Petter Sveen
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Carl Frode Tiller
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Sigrid Undset
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Alexander Aarvik
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Ketil Bjørnstad
The Immortal Original title: De udødelige First published: 2011 Pages: 315 Foreign rights sold: German (Suhrkamp)
General practitioner Thomas Brenner is close to 60. He lives in a posh neighborhood with his wife Elisabeth and his daughter Anikken. For years he’s been looking forward to enjoying a comfortable life – harvesting the fruit of years with responsibility, at home and at work. But his ageing in-laws, living one floor up from them, his own parents, and his immature children are constantly demanding his care, money and energy. In this novel, Bjørnstad deals with a recognizable subject that is rarely told in literature: A man on his way towards old age having to take care of both his parents and his children.
“Bjørnstad offers insight and wisdom, irony and humor in a sharp and precise picture of the Norwegian secured reality at the beginning of the 21st century” Dagsavisen
Ketil Bjørnstad is an established musician, composer and writer. Versatile and prolific, he has published more than 30 books. His big international breakthrough came with the trilogy To Music, The River and The Lady in the Valley, highly praised bestsellers throughout Europe.
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To Music Foreign rights sold: Danish (Cicero), Dutch (Signature), English (Maia Press), Estonian (NyNorden), French (JC Lattès), German (Insel), Greek (Polis), Korean (Munhakdongne), Russian (KompasGid), Spanish (JP Libros), Turkish (Metis)
A publisher's dream is to find a book that is both a bestseller and a prizewinner. Ketil Bjørnstad's To music is such a book. It is about the inner resources of a group of young musicians, the intensity of the passion between them, and their bold attempts to reach out and help one another and themselves. The three novels about Axel Vinding revolve around themes like creativity, passion, personal suffering and death, accompanied by a soundtrack of classical music.
To Music Original title: Til musikken First published: 2004 Pages: 393
The River (2), 2008, The Lady in The Valley (3), 2009.
To Music
“A piercingly beautiful and horrifying novel about music and love, death and sexuality.” Jyllands-Posten
Sjanger / Årstid Årstall
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Toril Brekke
The Promised Land trilogy Foreign rights sold: Danish (Hovedland), German (Droemer Knaur)
The Dream of America, Gold Rush and The Promised Land are the titles of the books in Toril Brekke’s trilogy about the Norwegian emigration to America. Over a period of more than 50 years in the midst of 18th century, we follow the story of several families with different destinies in the Promised Land: seamen in Brooklyn, farmers in the Midwest and lumberjacks in the North West.
The Dream of America (1) Original title: Drømmen om Amerika First published: 2007 Pages: 329
Gold Rush (2), 2008, The Promised Land (3), 2010
Toril Brekke (b. 1949) is one of Norway’s most notable, multi-talented and dynamic fiction writers. She has published a wide-ranging series of novels, short stories, books for young adults and stories for children. Toril Brekke combines a broad interest in public affairs with a rare talent for storytelling.
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Kari F. Brænne
Under The Deep Shadows Original title: : Under de dype skyggene av løvtunge tær First published: 2010 Pages: 252 Foreign rights sold: German (Rowohlt), French (Seuil).
Evelyn has kept her family history a secret from both her estranged son Wilhelm, and what she suspects is her grandson – a famous actor bearing a remarkable resemblance to her former lover. It’s time to tell the truth. Evelyn summons both her son and grandson to her house. But her plan fails. Wilhelm has kept an even greater secret from Evelyn. A secret so horrific it can forever alter the lives of the small family. Kari F. Brænne has written a dramatic story of how family secrets can affect future generations – with devastating consequences.
“The book stands out from the crowd in many ways (...) Many talk about the difficult second book, but with her second book Kari F. Brænne has only tightened her grip.” Hamar Arbeiderblad
Kari F. Brænne was born in Oslo in 1966. She has studied to be a painter at Oslo National Academy of the Arts and The New York Academy of Art, and she has worked with both painting and video/film. Brænne made her literary debut in 2007 with the novel A Different World, which won her Aschehoug’s Debutant Grant. Under the Deep Shadows is her second novel.
Aschehoug Fiction / Spring 2011
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Tom Egeland
Lies of the Fathers Original title: Fedrenes løgner First published: 2010 Pages: 496 Foreign rights sold: Czech (Euromedia), Danish (Rosinante).
Three heroes Three fates Three dark secrets
“Captivating and highly entertaining” Aftenposten
A freshwater can containing a diary floats ashore on Barbados. Shedding new light on the disappearance of the climate scientist Carl Christian Scott in the Greenland Sea twenty years earlier, the diary also proves to be a turning point for his son, the young journalist Victor Scott. Victor is asked to write a book about his three famous forefathers: his father, who disappeared in the Greenland Sea, his grandfather, a writer, winner of the nobel prize and war hero and his great-grandfather, who lived 20 years on a desert island. To gather information, Victor sets out on a journey around the world – a journey which will change his life. Lies of the Fathers is a captivating family epic about three men and their young descendant who uncovers their secrets.
Tom Egeland After making his debut with the horror novel Ragnarok in 1988, Tom Egeland (b. 1959) has written seven critically acclaimed thrillers. His books have been printed in several editions, and have been translated into 20 languages so far. Circle’s End has also been on the bestseller list in several countries. Egeland has a background in Norwegian press and broadcasting.
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Guro Hoftun Gjestad
Unfaithful DEBUTANT 2011
Original title: Anfall First published: 2011 Pages: 256
Ella is living an assured and happy life as an architect in Oslo, together with her husband Filip and their little daughter Bess, until she starts a relationship with her colleague Kristian. From there, she gradually loses control; of herself, of her family and of her lover. Unfaithful is an intense and disturbing novel about desire and betrayal – a novel about a woman who is unfaithful both to her husband and herself, finding out that the latter is as jeopardizing as the first.
“Near and intense reading. (…) The novel touches - in a close and sensual language - great themes as death, responsibility, betrayal and love.” VG
Guro Hoftun Gjestad (b 1970) is a journalist for VG’s weekend magazine. She has attended Aschehoug’s writing school. Unfaithful is her first novel.
Aschehoug Fiction / Spring 2011
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Jostein Gaarder
Sophie’s World Original title: Sofies verden First published: 1991 Pages: 512 Foreign rights sold: Albanian, American English, Arabic, Armenian, Azeri, Bengali, Brazilian Portuguese, British English, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (complex), Croatian, Czech, Danish,
Dutch Estonian, Finnish, French, Faeroese, Georgian , German, Greek, Greenlandic, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Kurdish, Latvian Z, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Sami, Serbian, Singhalese, Slovakian, Slovene, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese.
A worldwide success for 20 years A modern classic 50 million sold Translated into 59 languages With his exuberant imagination and joy of storytelling, Jostein Gaarder has fascinated an entire world. His many novels, which all pose central questions about man’s place in the universe, are read with the same interest all over the globe. The subjects he raises are universal, and they interest people regardless of their religious, cultural or ethnic background. To date Sophie’s world has been translated into 59 languages and has
sold over 50 million copies. An unknown number of pirate editions also exist. Jostein Gaarder's other works, both his children's books and adult novels such as The Solitary Mystery, Through a Glass, Darkly, Vita Brevis, The Ringmaster’s Daughter, and The Orange Girl have proved hugely popular and been published in a host of countries.
“A marvellously rich book. Its success boils down to something quite simple – Gaarder’s gift for communicating ideas” The Guardian
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“Seductive and original(...) Sophie’s World is, as it dares to congratulate itself, "a strange and wonderful book” Times Literary Supplement
“A terrifically entertaining and imaginative story wrapped around its tough, thought-provoking philosophical heart ” Daily Mai
“Remarkable... what Jostein Gaarder has managed to do is condense 3000 years of thought into 400 pages; to simplify some extremely complicated arguments without trivialising them (...) an extraordinary achievement” Sunday Times
“Challenging, informative and packed with easily grasped, and imitable, ways of thinking about difficult ideas” Independent on Sunday
Jostein Gaarder In 1991, when Jostein Gaarder wrote Sophie's World he believed that a novel on the history of philosophy would appeal only to a specialist readership. In 1995 the book was the most sold novel in the world.
Aschehoug Fiction / Spring 2011
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Magne Hovden
ESC Foreign rights sold: Finnish (Otava).
Original title: MGP First published: 2011 Pages: 240
Stavros Grindheim, a has-been hit-maker and celebrity, wants to return to his former glory. He is planning the ultimate comeback with equally failed colleagues. And Irene, a gospel singer with a voice so silvery she makes Celine Dion sound like a foghorn. The plan has been made: They are going to win the Eurovision Song Contest! Aided by viking costumes and harp solos. The fact that it is past the final date for entry is not a problem. They can’t possibly deny them participation if they list Rolf Løvland, former two time winner of ESC as their composer …
Samiland Foreign rights sold: Danish (Modtryk), Finnish (Otava), German (Piper), Russian (Ripol), Swedish (Lind & Co).
Original title: Sameland First published: 2010 Pages: 208
Roy and Leif work at the post office in a small town far up in the north of Norway. They are true slackers constantly dreaming of easy money and a better future. One day they get an idea: Maybe they can set up a Samiland, an amusement park based on the Sami culture that will attract tourists? The fact that they know nothing about the Sami culture does not stop them. Equipped with reindeer skins, Russian vodka mixed with juniper berries and a dash of confectioner’s colouring, and a fair share of naïve optimism, they start bringing their dream to life. Magne Hovden’s first novel will appeal to anybody who likes the novels of Arto Paasilinna or Mikael Niemi.
Magne Hovden is a literary agent and has written a children’s book, Pugg’s Diary, and two humour books. He currently lives in Kirkenes, in the far north of Norway.
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Ola Jostein Jørgensen
The Classic Original title: Klassikeren First published: 2011 Pages: 200
An elderly book collector is on the search for a rare book, a book that is said to have a special influence and effect on the reader, a book that he is not the only one who wants to own. The Classic is a playful and imaginative novel about the adversities of literature and bibliophile curiosities, as well as being a fairy tale. The bookseller Jørgensen has written the book he has always wanted to find among the bookshelves himself.
DEBUTANT 2011
Ola Jostein Jørgensen (b 1977) is a book store employee and has attended Aschehoug’s writing school. The Classic is his first novel.
Aschehoug Fiction / Spring 2011
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“One of the most influential writers of his generation. Say his name, and I think of Milan Kundera, Martin Amis and Frank Zappa” Linn Ullmann
“He exists. The perfect novelist exists and his name is Jan Kjærstad and he comes from Norway” Dagens Nyheter
“Read, reader, read - great books are so rare” Die Welt
“I read the Norwegian writer Jan Kjaerstad's energetic blast of a novel, The Seducer, in one. It's irresistible and playful” Ali Smith, Books of the Year, TLS
Jan Kjærstad occupies a prominent place in contemporary Scandinavian literature. His trilogy The Seducer, The Conqueror, The Discoverer makes a monumental contribution towards renewal of the art of novel writing in Scandinavia. In 2001, Jan Kjærstad won the Nordic Council's Prize for Literature for The Discoverer.
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Jan Kjærstad
The Seducer, The Conqueror, The Discoverer Original title: Forføreren, Erobreren, Oppdageren First published: 1993, 1996, 1999 Pages: 531, 458, 538
Foreign rights sold: Spanish (Nórdica Libros), Korean (Dulnyok Publishing), Turkish (Arion Publishing), Swedish (Atlantis), Icelandic (Edda), German (Kiepenheuer & Witsch), American English (Overlook Press), Dutch (De Geus), Danish (Samleren), Romanian (Editura Scandic), British English (Arcadia).
With the trilogy The Seducer, The Conqueror and The Discoverer, all three books in the shape of biographies of the fictional TV personality Jonas Wergeland, Kjærstad gives a vivid picture of post-war Norway, an intimate
study of male psychology, and a profound expound of the biography genre, by showing how differently a life can appear, depending on the biographer’s perspective and structuring grip.
“Kjærstad's novels are redolent with the fantastic profusion of the stories they tell, of all that flows forth from them, presented in ever-new guises” Die Zeit
The Seducer
“Veering from the broadly comic to the beautifully sad, with detours for deadpan meditations on the “Norwegian national character,” this book is not just big (...) but big-hearted.” The New York Times
“An enormously accomplished and compelling novel by one of Scandinavia's outstanding contemporary writers.” Paul Auster
Aschehoug Fiction / Spring 2011
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Aasne Linnestå
Garden Song Original title: Hagesang First published: 2011 Pages: 366
Summer. Sylvia stays at home writing, while her husband Mikkel has taken the kids on holiday. Or have they left her for good? While the grass is growing in the garden, Sylvia writes like a maniac, to the point where the text is threatening to become more important than anything else. Garden Song is a wild-growing, sensual and intense novel about the crucial moments in life, and how they tend to give structure to our lives, even when we’re not aware of them.
Aasne Linnestå (b 1963) made her debut in 2000 with a collection of poems. She went on to write a critically acclaimed poetic collage portraying the Polish artist and playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz. A foreign country was her first novel, followed by the novel Krakow .
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Thure Erik Lund
Straahlbox Original title: Straahlbox First published: 2010 Pages: 496
Thure Erik Lund is a deeply original and highly appreciated author, who is often described as uncompromising, innovative, critical and vigorous. His latest novel Straahlbox is a book full of stories of different utopias. The stories grow out of the text and take us over every border, linguistically, mentally and worldly. The text twists and turns, pushes time and space and identity, and forces the reader to constantly adjust their basis of understanding in order to not lose their footing. Thus leading the reader always deeper down and around in the human being’s deepest hiding places. It is painful, and at the same time enticing, sad and endlessly touching, clear and impenetrable.
“Thure Erik Lund’s new novel is a treasure box of intelligent humor and civilization's criticism, tied together by literary playfulness.” Dagbladet
Thure Erik Lund (b 1959) has received several prizes for his books. Straahlbox was nominated to the Brage Prize for best novel in 2010.
Aschehoug Fiction / Spring 2011
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Mala Naveen
Desiland Original title: Desiland First published: 2010 Pages: 480
Shyam, a physiotherapist, wants to make a living translating song lyric from the fifties, while his wife Bharati falls out with her group of friends when she refuses to let herself be dictated around. Suraj, the hope of the family, has brought his secret to Bombay, while his little sister Mita wants to make a movie of the family scandals. To all four of them, the attempts at self-realisation have unexpected consequences. The question is whether they can stop before the whole family dissolves. Desiland is an epic novel from Oslo and Bombay; a real piece of home town writing about the Norwegian-Indian family Metha. From an apartment building in Stovner, life is depicted with humour and convincing authority.
“Mala Naveen’s strenght is her obvious narrative talent. It is hard not to be moved by the fates …” Dagsavisen
Mala Naveen
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(b. 1976) lives in Oslo and works as a journalist for Aftenposten, the largest national newspapers in Norway. Desiland is her first novel.
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Lars Petter Sveen
I’ll Be Back Original title: Eg kjem tilbake First published: 2011 Pages: 224
A town and a dark forest, that’s the world according to the young man Lied. But when a stranger is captured, brought to town and lynched, it is as if Lied awakens from a long sleep: He breaks up and heads for the unknown, searching for his own story. I’ll be back is dramatic and exciting, violent and beautiful, brutal and poetic. It takes place in a mythical landscape that makes you think of the simple rules of The Old West and Kurtz’s travel into the heart of darkness.
Lars Petter Sveen was born in 1981. He made his debut in 2008 with the widely acclaimed novel Driving from Fræna. He is a former student by the Academy of Writing in Hordaland. Sveen lives in Oslo where he studies to be a librarian at Oslo University College.
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Carl Frode Tiller
Encirclement I Original title: Innsirkling I First published: 2007 Pages: 284 Foreign rights sold: Czech (Dauphin), Danish (C&K), French (Editiones Stock), Hungarian (Gondolat), Russian (Corpus), Serbian (Zavet).
David can’t remember who he is. His psychiatrist places a notice in the newspaper, encouraging acquaintances and friends to write him letters to help him start remembering. The letters create a network of texts where the lives of David, the writers, and people around them, are intertwined and rewritten.
“A Norwegian masterpiece of truths and lies (...) Carl Frode Tiller has produced a novel written with Ibsenesque virtuosity and loads of intelligence (…) The book is quite simply a small masterpiece.” Børsen, Denmark
Winner of the EU Prize for Literature 2009 Winner of the Critics' Prize 2007 Winner of the Brage Prize 2007 Winner of Tarjei Vesaas First Book Award 2001 Winner of P2 Listeners’ Prize 2001 & 2010 30
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Encirclement II Original title: Innsirkling II First published: 2010 Pages: 399 Foreign rights sold: Danish (C&K), Hungarian (Gondolat)
Ole is a man in touch with his feminine sides. He got a wife, kids and a farm. He is in danger of losing it all. Tom Roger is a muscular thug from a family with a bad reputation. But he is yearning to become someone else. Paula only wants to be loved. When her son and grandson come to visit her at the old people’s home, dark secrets surface. The letters to David keep arriving. Three more people bring pieces to the puzzle that is Davids Life, but also tribute to make this work a revealing mosaic of a small rural society.
“This autumn’s great Norwegian novel. Every new book by Carl Frode Tiller is better imagined and better written than the previous. With the Encirclement books, Carl Frode Tiller is on his way towards something really big.” Dagens Næringsliv
Carl Frode Tiller Doubtlessly one of his generation’s most important novelists, Carl Frode Tiller (b 1970) is admired for his furious prose and his ability to create vivid, complex characters whose fates often seem sealed by their inability to break out of their own destructive behavioral patterns. Tiller succeeds in portraying his characters in a way that arouses the deepest sympathy in the reader.
Aschehoug Fiction / Spring 2011
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Sigrid Undset
Kristin Lavransdatter The Wreath, The Wife, The Cross The three books The Wreath (Kransen),The Wife (Husfrue) and The Cross (Korset) form this magnificent historical trilogy. Sigrid Undset was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 for this trilogy and her two books on Olav Audunssøn. In these books we follow Kristin's life in fourteenth-century Norway, from a young girl, through marriage and childbearing, to her death. This story of a woman’s life in fourteenthcentury Norway has kept its hold on generations of readers, and the heroine, Kristin – beautiful, strong-willed and passionate – stands with the world’s great literary figures. For full presentation and bibliography, please see our web pages.
Sigrid Undset One of the greatest writers Norway has fostered, Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) made her breakthrough in 1911 with the novel Jenny . Her name will, however, always be most strongly associated with the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter , which has been sold worldwide for decades. Her historical novels won her the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.
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“Sigrid Undset’s trilogy embodies more of life, seen understandingly and seriously (…) than any novel since Dostoyevsky’s Brothers Karamazov.” Commonwealth
“The finest historical novel our 20th century has yet produced; indeed it dwarfs most of the fiction of any kind that Europe has produced in the last twenty years” Contemporary movements in European literature
“No other novelist, past or present, has bodied forth the medieval world with such richness and fullness of indisputable genius (…) One of the finest minds in European literature.” New York Herald Tribune
Nobel Prize winner 1928
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Alexander Aarvik
Bulletproof Original title: Skuddsikker First published: 2011 Pages: 267
Marius is a seemingly successful young man, but deeply troubled by a growing inner anxiety. Officially he is taking a break from his studies in medicine working as a security guard at a shopping centre. Deep down he knows he will not be returning to university. He loosed himself in drinking with his buddies, meeting girls and his dead end job, and slowly loses his grip on reality. Bulletproof is a gripping portrait of a young man searching for identity and meaning in a society that to him only upholds superficial values. NT UTA DEB 011 2
Alexander Aarvik (b 1986) is finishing his vocational studies in psychology at the University of Oslo. Bulletproof is his first novel.
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O ktob e r Fi c t i o n
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Romeo Gill
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Dag Johan Haugerud
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Karl Ove Knausgård
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Steve Leirvik
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Tove Nilsen
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Per Petterson
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Anne B. Ragde
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Christian Refsum
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Tonje Røed
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Tore Renberg
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Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold
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Dag Solstad
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Mari Ulset
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Hanne Ørstavik
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Romeo Gill
Young Man in New Land Original title: Ung mann i nytt land First published: Spring 2011 Pages: 200
In the mid-70s, the brothers Akas and Suraj and their mother arrive in Norway, where their father Haarjet has already lived for a few years. They move into their father’s one bedroom apartment in Drammen. The novel describes the western society seen through the eyes of a young Indian immigrant and his development from the age of 11 until he becomes the first in his family to move away from home at 17, for an education. Young Man in a New Land is a gripping story of breaking away and belonging. The book is a freestanding sequel to Romeo Gill’s first novel, Haarjet (2008).
Romeo Gill was born in 1970. His first novel, Harjeet, was published in 2008.
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Dag Johan Haugerud
The Meaning of Me Original title: Hva jeg betyr First published: Spring 2011 Pages: 370
A middle-aged librarian reluctantly agrees to film a wedding. She has never before held a video camera in her hands, and experiences for the first time how the camera gives her a whole new perspective on the world. Her grown-up son, working in a film studio, helps her by editing the film, which turns out surprisingly good. The woman is excited to have discovered what she believes is a hidden talent and starts dreaming of developing it further. But her son, who has ambitions of his own, feels threatened by his mother’s intrusion into what he considers his area, and a conflict starts to grow between the two of them‌ An agonizing and deeply absorbing novel about ambitions, self-respect, motherly love and selflessness, The Meaning of Me also raises the question: Who is entitled to artistic selffulfillment?
Dag Johan Haugerud (b 1964) is a librarian, a filmmaker and a writer. The Meaning of Me is his third novel.
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Karl Ove Knausgård
My Struggle 1-6
250 000 BOOKS SOLD Original title: Min kamp 1-6 First published: 2009-2011 Pages: app. 400 x 6 Foreign rights sold: Azeri (Qanun), Bulgarian (Damyan Yakov), Danish (Lindhardt & Ringhof ), Dutch (De Geus), English (Harvill Secker/Archipelago), Finnish (Like), French (Denoël), German (Luchterhand), Hebrew (Modan), Hungarian (Szó), Italian (Ponte alle Grazie), Spanish (Anagrama), Swedish (Norstedts)
The greatest enigma in his life is his own father. Now he is a father himself, and all he wants to achieve in that role is that his own children do not fear him.
“A tremendous piece of literature” Politiken, Denmark
Constantly wavering between megalomania and extreme self-depreciation, Knausgård writes about his present life, his teenage years, his childhood, his struggle to write his first book, his father’s death, the birth of his first child, his burning wish to write truly great literature, his boredom from changing his children’s nappies – relentlessly revealing his never-ending craving for his father’s approval, and his own endless talent for self-doubt.
Karl Ove Knausgård Karl Ove Knausgård (b 1968) made his literary debut in 1998 with the widely acclaimed novel Out of the World, the first debut novel ever to win The Norwegian Critics’ Prize. His second novel, A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven (2004), was also a huge success with critics and readers.
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“A triumph for the art of the novel” Information, Denmark
Breaking his own life story down to its elementary particles, Karl Ove Knausgård embarks on a Proustian exploration of his past, creating a universal story of the struggles - great and small - that we all face in our lives. My Struggle is a profoundly serious, gripping and hugely readable work written as if the author’s very life were at stake. The six novels of the My Struggle cycle can be read independently or as one hugely ambitious project. A painfully honest confession, an unparalleled and shocking achievement, an addictive read, a literary suicide, an ambitious piece of hyperrealism, a stunningly original success
“A rare achievement. No one in his generation equals Knausgård’s combination of talent, style, observational skills and original thinking.” Dagens Næringsliv
“Complex, abundant, shocking” Aftenposten
“Knausgård dares, and manages, to write about his subject as if he is the first ever to write about it.” Morgenbladet
The 2009 Brage Award The 2010 Book of the Year Prize in Morgenbladet The 2010 P2 Listeners’ Prize The 2004 Norwegian Critics’ Prize Oktober Fiction / Spring 2011
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Steve Leirvik
I Saw the World Too Soon Original title: Jeg så verden for tidlig First published: Spring 2011 Pages: 238
When Benz, 15, moves back to the northern Norwegian town where he was born, after 7 years of unhappy exile on a nearby island, life seems to take a turn for the better for him and his mother. The stench from the trawl boats, the noise from the trucks, the pounding heat from the midnight sun, the confused reindeer walking the streets in search of shade; it’s a marvellous town. Benz’ problem is the curse running in his veins - the rage and guilt that consumed his father and grandfather. If Benz can break free, he can also win the love of the beautiful Sofia. But rumour has it his father is still in town, somewhere in the bars by the docks, and there will be no rest until Benz can confront him with the question: Why did he leave them?
NT UTA DEB 011 2
Steve Leirvik was born in Hammerfest in the North of Norway 1977. I Saw the World Too Soon is his literary debut.
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Tove Nilsen
Down in Heaven Original title: Nede i himmelen First published: 2010 Pages: 269
Tove and Goggen both live in the same apartment building in the suburbs, where the walls are paper thin and secrets are hard to keep. As often as they can, the two teenagers sneak out to swim in the lake and make out in the woods. Goggen has come home from his stay in a juvenile detention centre, where he was sent for stabbing his father. At Tove’s house, a two bedroom flat on the eighth floor, there is an ambience of hospitality and generosity, but at night her parents fight and her mother expects her daughter’s loyalty. Goggen is the only person Tove trusts, but in the course of this winter, when man sets foot on the moon for the first time, they are irrevocably driven apart.
“Real, intelligent and sincerely conveyed (…) Nilsen writes in a way that makes everything relevant to us” VG, Best Books of 2010
“Profound and heavenly” Dag og Tid
Tove Nilsen A well-known journalist and author of novels for adult readers, Tove Nilsen (b 1952) is today considered one of the most important writers in Norway.
Oktober Fiction / Spring 2011
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Per Petterson
Out Stealing Horses Original title: Ut og stjæle hester First published: 2003 Pages: 238 Foreign rights sold to 49 publishers – see separate sheet.
In 1948, fifteen-year-old Trond spends a summer in the country with his father. The unexpected events that come to pass alter his life forever. An early morning adventure out stealing horses leaves Trond confused when his friend Jon suffers a sudden breakdown. Behind this scene, he will discover, lies a personal tragedy: the first incident in the gradual destruction of the two boys’ families. Out Stealing Horses is a poignant and moving tale of a changing perspective on the world, from youthful innocence to the difficult acceptance of betrayal, and of nostalgia for a simpler way of life.
“A true gem, compact yet radiant” Independent on Sunday
“An amazing novel about the various phases of life, about the moments that change you forever” Lire, France
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I Curse the River of Time Original title: Jeg forbanner tidens elv First published: 2008 Pages: 250 Foreign rights sold: Albanian (Shkupi), Arabic (All Prints), Bosnian (Connectum), Bulgarian (Delakort), Catalan (Club Editor), Danish (Batzer), Dutch (De Geus), English (Harvill Secker, UK / Graywolf, US), Faroese (Nylendí), Finnish (Otava), French (Gallimard) German (Hanser), Hebrew (Keter), Italian (Guanda), Macedonian (ILI-ILI), Polish (WAB), Portuguese (Casa das Letras), Romanian (Univers), Russian (Text), Serbian (Geopoetika), Spanish (Mondadori), Swedish (Bonnier), Turkish (Metis).
1989: all over Europe Communism is crumbling. Arvid, 37, is in the throes of a divorce. At the same time, his mother is diagnosed with cancer. Over a few intense autumn days, Arvid struggles to find a new footing in his life, while all the patterns around him are changing at a staggering speed. He casts his mind back to holidays on the beach with his brothers, to courtship, and to his early working life, when, as a young Communist, he abandoned his studies to work on a production line. I Curse the River of Time is an honest, heartbreaking yet humorous portrayal of a layered mother-son relationship told in Petterson’s precise and beautiful prose.
“Candour, sensitivity, humour: the result is singular magic” The Irish Times
Per Petterson (b 1952) worked for several years as an unskilled laborer, bookseller, and translator until he made his literary debut in 1987 with the short story collection Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes.
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Anne B. Ragde
House of Lies (1) Original title: Berlinerpoplene First published: 2004 Pages: 314 Foreign rights sold: Albanian (Dituria), Bulgarian (Damyan Yakov), Czech (Kniha Zlin), Danish (Rosinante), Dutch (De Geus), English (Harvill Secker), Estonian (Eesti Ramat), Faroese (Nylendì), Finnish (Tammi), French (Balland), German (btb), Hungarian (Generalpress), Icelandic (Edda), Korean (Yearimdang), Latvian (Zvaigzne), Lithuanian (Gimtasis Zodis), Macedonian (ILI-ILI), Polish (Smak Slowa), Romanian (Univers), Russian (Live Books), Swedish (Forum).
2 MILLION COPIES SOLD
“Not a dull moment(…) Serious and exciting – about dysfunctional families, dirty blokes and pigpens”
On a remote farm in northern Norway, eighty-year-old Anna Neshov is rushed to the hospital after suffering a stroke. Her three sons have not spoken in some time. Margido, a devout Christian, works in Trondheim as a funeral director. Erlend, a successful window dresser, lives a life of luxury in a penthouse in Copenhagen, while Tor, the eldest brother, remains rearing pigs on the decaying family farm. The trio reluctantly reunite over the winter holidays, where unexpected guests and the question of inheritance prompt the revealing of the bizarre and devastating family secret.
VG
“This extremely well-written novel, with so much inherent darkness, is a wonderful portrayal of a family that is stuck in the unspoken” Le Nouvel Observateur,, France
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Hermit Crabs (2) Foreign rights sold: Bulgarian (Damyan Yakov), Czech (Kniha Zlin), Danish (Samleren), Dutch (De Geus), Estonian (Eesti Raamat), Finnish (Tammi), French (Balland), Faeroese (Forlaget Nylendi), Hungarian (Generalpress), Icelandic (Edda), Polish (Smak Slowa), Romanian (Univers), Russian (LIVE Books), Swedish (Forum), German (Btb).
Torunn Neshov is thirty-seven and when her grandmother dies, she has to deal with her father’s side of the family for the first time. Suddenly becoming an heiress, after having built a life of her own in Oslo, Torunn faces fundamental choices that will have great consequences for the entire family.
Original title: Eremittkrepsene First published: 2005 Pages: 303
Pastures Green (3) Foreign rights sold: Danish (Rosinante), Dutch (De Geus), German (BTB / Randomhouse), Swedish (Forum), Finnish (Tammi), Icelandic (Forlagid), Hungarian (General Press), Estonian (Eesti Raamat), Bulgarian (Damyan Yakov), Romanian (Univers), French (Balland), Faeroese (Nylendí), Polish (Smak Slowa).
Following her father’s suicide in the pig barn, Torunn struggles to continue running the farm and keeping the pigs with the assistance of a young farm relief worker. Meanwhile, there is maximum anticipation in Copenhagen as the homosexual couple Erlend and Krumme are expecting children by the lesbian couple Jytte and Lizzi. The two couples make the trip to the family farm with plans for the future.
Original title: Ligge i grønne enger First published: 2007 Pages: 296
Anne B. Ragde (b 1957) made her literary debut in 1986 with the children’s book Hallo! Her er Jo. Her international literary breakthrough came with House of Lies, the first volume in the Neshov trilogy, which has sold more than 1 million copies in Norway alone.
Oktober Fiction / Spring 2011
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Christian Refsum
Promise Original title: Løftet First published: 2010 Pages: 331
An estranged father decides it is time to get to know his thirteen-year old son. He takes him hiking in the mountains. When summer is over, none of them wants to go back home - so they decide not to. Promise is an unsentimental, deeply realistic and moving story about a father and a son who struggle to overcome their own limitations and creating a dignified and independent life. The novel beautifully describes the budding relationship between them, and at the same time depicts our modern society with humour and moral severity.
“Refsum has yet again told us something essential about human relationships” Dagsavisen
“A refreshing read.” Klassekampen
Christian Refsum (b 1962) made his literary debut in 2001 with the collection of short stories Transport, followed by the poetry collection Offbeat/nye dager in 2003. Promise is his second novel.
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Tonje Røed
Lovely Prospects Original title: Skjønne utsikter First published: Spring 2011 Pages: 320
Newlywed Emma deserves only the best. That’s why she has left everything behind and moved with her husband Andreas to Venezuela, where her new upper-class existence offers everything she ever dreamt of. She loves the sweet desserts, the shopping sprees and the cold wine; she even loves the danger she runs of being mugged in the streets – it makes her feel valuable, treasured. But soon, Andreas can no longer satisfy Emma’s needs for love and attention and in her hunt for better options, Emma sets off a spiral of destruction that sucks in everyone around her. A distorted, Bovaryish portrait of a self-absorbed woman, Lovely Prospects is a mercilessly heartbreaking novel, written with intensity and humor of the darkest kind.
Tonje Røed (b 1972) entered the literary scene in 1999 with the short story collection Ferie. Lovely Prospects is her second novel.
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the BOOKSELLER’S PRIZE 2008
“A book full of humour, rhythm, elegant transitions, quick-witted characterizations and peculiar imagery” Dagbladet
Tore Renberg (b 1972) made his literary debut in 1995 with the collection of short prose Sleeping Tangle, for which he won the prestigious Tarjei Vesaas’ Debutant Prize. He has since been coined “the greatest storyteller of his generation” by Aftenposten, Norway’s second-largest newspaper.
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Tore Renberg
I Travel Alone Original title: Charlotte Isabel Hansen First published: 2008 Pages: 355
Foreign rights sold: Brazilian Portuguese (DBA Editora), Danish (BATZER & Co), French (Mercure de France), German (dtv), Lithuanian (Gimtasis Zodis), Polish (BC Edukacja), Russian (Azbooka), Swedish (Gilla Böcker).
Jarle Klepp, 25, is a student of literature who relishes his academic existence. Student life offers Jarle everything he has ever dreamt of: He is considered an illustrious young talent by his professors, and has an intense and exclusively physical affair with the stunning Herdis Snartemo. He has discovered his analytic skills, his effective charm; his future. Then a letter arrives. From the police, summoning him for a DNA test.
It is time for Jarle to grow up. But does he want to? Is he able to? I Travel Alone is the third book in Tore Renberg’s series of freestanding novels about Jarle Klepp, and the second to be adapted for the big screen. Other books in the series are The Man who Loved Yngve, The Orheim Company and Pixley Mapogo. The fifth Jarle Klepp novel will be published in autumn 2011.
I Travel Alone
“An intoxicating reading experience” VG
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Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold (b 1979) studies literature at the University of Oslo. This is her first novel.
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Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold
The Faster I Walk, the Smaller I Am Original title: Jo fortere jeg går, jo mindre er jeg First published: 2009 Pages: 124
Foreign rights sold: Danish (Republik), English (Dalkey Archive), German (Hoffmann & Campe), Spanish (Lengua de Trapo), Swedish (Gilla Böcker)
Mathea Martinsen has never been good at dealing with other people. But one thing she has learned. They are not like her. Now, as an old woman, she suddenly experiences a great grief, and she is struck by the fear that she will die before anyone will know that she has lived. Mathea digs out her
old wedding dress again, bakes some sweet cakes and goes out in the world. Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold’s first novel excels with its humorous earnestness and extraordinarily inventive prose.
“An astounding literary debut (...) nothing less than scorching poetry.” Aftenposten
“A gloomy feel good novel about the irreparable loneliness of being human. A tragicomedy of rare quality.” Stig Sæterbakken
“Original and moving.” Dagbladet
The Tarjei Vesaas First Book Prize 2009
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Dag Solstad
Shyness and Dignity Original title: Genanse og verdighet First published: 1994 Pages: 152 Foreign rights sold: Albanian (Skanderbeg), Amharic (Fabula Art Promotion), Arabic (All Print), Bengali (Sampark), Croatian (Fidipid), Czech (Pistorius), English (The Harvill Press, UK/Graywolf Press, US), Estonian (Loomingu Raamatukogu), French (Les Allusifs), German (Dörlemann), Hindi (A&A), Hungarian (Polar Könyvek), Italian (Iperborea), Portuguese (Ahab Edicoes), Romanian (Pandora), Slovene (Goga), Spanish (Lengua de Trapo), Swedish (Ordfront), Turkish (Ithaki).
“With sublime restraint and subtle modulation, Solstad conveys an entire age of sorrow and loss” Publishers Weekly
Nothing in Elias’ measured life, in his whole career as a teacher of literature, in his marriage to the indescribably beautiful Eva, has foreshadowed the events of that apparently ordinary day. He makes sure he has his headache pills and leaves for work as he has done every morning for the past twenty-five years. He is only too familiar with his pupils’ hostile attitude, but today he feels their impatience, their oafishness, more painfully than ever before. After their ritually dismissive and bored response to his passionate lecture on Ibsen’s The Wild Duck, he reaches a point of crisis.
Dag Solstad (b 1941) is widely recognised as Norway’s leading contemporary novelist. He has received the Nordic Council’s Prize for Literature, the Brage Prize, and is a threetimes winner of the Norwegian Critics’ Prize.
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Mari Ulset
A Ride Original title: Biltur First published: Spring 2011 Pages: app. 150
Every year, Eystein leaves home for a week to go fishing. And every year, Alma has spent the week alone in their house out at the mouth of the fjord, with apple trees and sheep as her sole company. But this year, Henrik and Louisa appear, two strangers in a plum red car. Their presence changes the way Alma sees her familiar surroundings – and as the days go by, something changes within Alma herself. When Eystein returns, every trace of the couple is gone, but yet, everything is different than before. A Ride is a quiet, intense novel about a surprising encounter, set in the grandiose coastal landscape of Western Norway.
DEBUTANT 2011
Mari Ulset (b 1980) comes from the Northwest of Norway. She lives in Bergen, where she works as a gardener.
Sjanger / Årstid Årstall
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Hanne Ørstavik
Love Original title: Kjærlighet First published: 1997 Pages: 111 Foreign rights sold: Albanian (Skanderbeg), Croatian (Fidipid), Czech (Doplnek), Danish (Athene), Dutch (De Geus), Finnish (Like), French (Les Allusifs), Hindi (A&A), Hungarian (Scolar Kiado), Latvian (Apgads Atena), Polish (Smak Slowa), Russian (Text), Serbian (Stubovi Kulture), Swedish (Alfabeta Anamma)
“A literary triumph” Bergens Tidende
Vibeke and her son Jon have just moved to a small place in the north of Norway. It’s in the middle of the winter, and the day before Jon’s birthday. Wanting to give his mother time to prepare a birthday cake, Jon goes out in the dark to sell lottery tickets. Vibeke, meanwhile, is fully occupied with her own new-started life. We follow the two individuals on their separate journeys through a cold winter’s night. Love is a compact, intense story about the arm’s length relationship between a mother and her child, in which Ørstavik – without any dramatic gestures – addresses one of the greatest taboos of our time: the self-absorbed mother.
“Wonderful writing” Morgenbladet
Hanne Ørstavik (b 1969) has received a number of prizes, amongst others The Brage Prize, The Sult Prize, The P2 Listeners’ Novel Prize, The Amalie Skram Prize, The Oktober Prize, The Aschehoug Prize and The Dobloug Prize for her entire authorship. Her books are translated into 20 languages.
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N o n - Fi c t i o n
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Kaare M. Bilden
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Dag Øistein Endsjø
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Thomas Hylland Eriksen
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Ivo de Figueiredo
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Lars Fr. H. Svendsen
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Henrik Svensen
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Øystein Sørensen
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Odd Karsten Tveit
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Kaare M. Bilden
The Politics of Food Original title: Mat er makt First published: 2011 Pages: 200
Should we all eat only local food? Become vegetarians? Is there enough food for all 6 billions of us? There are numerous myths and questions about food! It is not necessarily true that food that has travelled a short distance is more environmental friendly than food that has travelled far, that there is not enough food in the world, and that rich countries have to send more food to poor countries to solve the famine issues. How can we get the debates out of the old trenches and into constructive innovativeness, with all its positive extended effects for the climate, income to poor countries, worker’s rights, safety, and for most people’s option of living a good life.
Kaare M. Bilden (b 1976) has been a journalist since 1999. He is also a cartoon writer and short film creator. The Politics of Food is his first book.
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Dag Øistein Endsjø
Sex and Religion From Purity Balls to Sacred Homosexuality Original title: Sex og Religion – Fra jomfruball til hellig homosex First published: 2009 Pages: 320 Foreign rights sold: British English (Reaktion Books), Italian (Casa Editrice Odoya), Polish (Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca), Serbian (Karpos Books), Swedish (Norstedts).
Religion prohibits and orders sex, condemns and blesses, punishes and rewards. The genders of your sex partner, your marital status, the color of your skin, your religion or caste are all factors that can lead you to redemption or perdition. While Christian teenage girls go to balls where they promise God that they will relinquish sex until they are married, Buddhist monks call attention to gay sex as a holy mystery. Endsjø also takes a closer look at the different religions’ attitude towards straight sex and gay sex, sex racism and daemon sex, duty sex and abstinence, oral sex, anal sex, divorce and bigamy. Welcome to the sexual universe of religion.
“Outstanding from beginning to end.” Morgenbladet
Dag Øistein Endsjø Dag Øistein Endsjø is assistant professor at the Department of Archeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion at the University of Bergen. He has written a number of books on gender, sex and religion.
Narrative Non-Fiction / Spring 2011
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Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Rubbish Resources gone astray in a world of unintended consequences Original title: Søppel. Avfall i en verden av bivirkninger First published: 2011 Pages: 194
What gives things their value? How can rubbish be transformed into treasures? Why is the littering of brains a growing environmental problem? How can people become rubbish? How do we keep the waste at an arm’s length in a world that is filling up? Rubbish is what is left over, the irrelevant, the unintended side effect, and the unwanted. It is nice to think that when we just throw it away, it disappears. But there is more and more of it.
The rubbish is a mirror that tells humankind who we are. Rich countries throw away twice as much as they did 25 years ago, and simultaneously countries as China and India import tons of rubbish. The further the rich people remove themselves from the stench, the more importunate the waste becomes for the poor.
Thomas Hylland Birger Baug Eriksen is Professor of social the UIO. He is also an science international best(born 1969) has a anthropology background inatpolitical science, literary and journalism. sellerAfter in the fieldyears of non-fiction with books like Small Placesin–aLarge Issues (1998) seven as a journalist and head attendant newspaper, he became and Tyranny of the Moment (2001). are soldNorge to more than twenty counpublic relations manager in theHis aidbooks agency Plan in 2000. tries, and resonates readers all over the world.
Narrative Non-Fiction / Spring 2011
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Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Tyranny of the Moment Fast and Slow Time in the Information Age Original title: Øyeblikkets tyranni First published: 2001 Pages: 217 Foreign rights sold: Albanian (Shkupi), Chinese simplified (Social Sciences Academic Press), Turkish (Tavanarasi), Swedish (Nya Doxa), Serbian (Biblioteka XX Vek), Russian (Ves Mir), Polish (Pànstwowy Instytut Wydawniczy), Lithuanian (Tyto Alba), Korean (Mulpure), Italian (Elèuthera), German (Herder), French (Ed. Homnispheres), British English (Pluto Press), Dutch (Agora), Danish (Tiderne Skifter), Hungarian (L'Harmattan Kft), Czech (Doplnek), Greek (Savalas Publishers), Ukrainian (Calvaria Publishers), Finnish (Johnny Kniga), Latvian (Sia Apgads Norden).
“I found myself both charmed and challenged by its breathlessness.” Todd Gitlin, New York University
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This surprising and original book argues that slow time is a main scarce resource in the information age. Parents, readers, pensioners, wage workers, executives, unionists and politicians have a common cause here. Using a wealth of examples, this book offers an accurate and wideranging diagnosis of this hurried era. It shows in which ways phenomena such as soap operas, correspondence, the youth cult, advertising and “flexible work” are connected to a logic of acceleration and fragmentation, with information technology as a driving force, and how they are connected with the history of modern society.
Aschehoug Agency
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Ivo de Figueiredo
Henrik Ibsen The Man/The Mask Original title: Henrik Ibsen. Mennesket / Masken First published: 2006/2007 Pages: 650
Henrik Ibsen is, beside Shakespeare, the most played dramatist in the world. He’s plays are performed from San Fransisco to Ougadougou, and his works are reviewed and analyzed in a seemingly never-ending stream of publications. In this book De Figueiredo has reconstructed a wholly new and independent history on Ibsen’s life, the Man, the Author and his Works. In one single narrative, which has become no less than the new authoritative standard biography. This book addresses not only the academic but also the general public.
“This great biography on Henrik Ibsen sets a new standard for Norwegian writers’ biographies.” Aftenposten
Ivo de Figueiredo (b 1966) has published a number of articles on the German occupation of Norway, on the nationalist party Nasjonal Samling and on the Norwegian bringing to justice after the Second World War. In 2002 he was awarded the Brage Prize for his biography Free Man.
Narrative Non-Fiction / Spring 2011
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Lars Fr. H. Svendsen
Fear Original title: Frykt First published: 2007 Pages: 189 Foreign rights sold: Chinese (Peking University Press), Croatian (TIM Press), Danish (Klim), English (Reaktion Books), Italian (Alberto Castellvecchi), Macedonian (VIG Zenica), Russian (Progress Tradition), Serbian (Geopoetica).
We live in a culture where fear has become all-consuming: it governs our private lives and the public consciousness. In a time when we are safer than ever before, we’re bombarded with threats about dangers from the media, politicians and special interest organizations, and it undermines our freedom, creates distrust and makes us irrational in our efforts to minimize risks. Deeply annoyed by the way fear is colonizing our lives; the author analyzes fear from a series of perspectives, and how it is being exploited for political and economic ends. In the final chapter Svendsen addresses the question as to whether there is a path out of the current climate of fear, and the book ends on a positive note, embracing a humanistic optimism.
Lars Fr. H. Svendsen (b. 1970) is a doctor of philosophy and associate professor of philosophy at the University of Bergen. He is also an international bestseller in the field of nonfiction, with a unique ability to communicate difficult contemporary and international topics in a straight forward way that makes the reader feel spoken with, rather than spoken to.
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The Philosophy of Boredom Original title: Kjedsomhetens filosofi First published: 1999 Pages: 200 Foreign rights sold: Brazilian Portuguese (Jorge Zahar Ed.), Chinese (Peking University Press), Croatian (TIM), Czech (Kniha Zlín), Danish (Klim), Dutch (Agora), English (Reaktion Books), Finnish (Tammi), French (Fayard), German (Insel), Greek (Savalas), Hebrew (Agur), Italian (Ugo Guanda), Japanese (Shuiesha), Korean (Booksea), Macedonian (VIG Zenica),Russian (Progress Tradition), Serbian (Geopoetika), Spanish (Tusquets), Swedish (Natur och Kultur), Turkish (Tavanarasi), Urdu (Mashal Books).
A Philosophy of Boredom investigates one of the central preoccupations of our age as it probes the nature of boredom, how it originated, how and why it afflicts us, and why we cannot seem to overcome it by any act of will. Bringing together observations from philosophy, literature, psychology, theology and popular culture, Lars Svendsen examines boredom from its pre-Romantic manifestations over Beckett and Andy Warhol to American Psycho and modern feelings of alienation and transgression.
“When an investigation into boredom is done well, as it is in A Philosophy of Boredom by Lars Svendsen of Bergen University, it is positively gripping” Times Literary Supplement
Narrative Non-Fiction / Spring 2011
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Henrik Svensen
The End is Nigh A Human History of Natural Disasters Original title: Enden er nær - Om naturkatastrofer og samfunn First published: 2006 Pages: 271 Foreign rights sold: Bulgarian (Perseus), English (Reaktion Books), Italian (Casa editrise Odoya).
Over the years millions of people have died in natural disasters. Cities have fallen into ruins, societies collapsed. Today, nearly half the world’s population lives in the danger zone. By taking us along on a journey through the history of natural disasters, Henrik Svensen shows us how they always changes our way of looking upon ourselves, religion, nature and destiny, and how it always have deep impact on economics and politics.
“A multi-faceted and scientifically vivid examination of a phenomenon that shapes our civilization far more that we realize.” Aftenposten
Henrik Svensen Henrik Svensen (born 1970) is a geologist at the University in Oslo, where he conducts research on dramatic events in the history of the earth.
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Øystein Sørensen
The Dream of a Perfect Society Four Totalitarian Ideologies – One Totalitarian Mentality? Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Khomeini and bin Laden are totalitarian thinkers. They bring to mind George Orwell’s 1984, a society where the state is almighty, where everyone is supervised. But totalitarian ideas are more than that: They are notions of breaking with the world as it is, and dreams of creating a better one. This book reviews the similarities and differences between four of our main Totalitarian Ideologies.
Original title: Drømmen om det perfekte samfunn First published: 2010 Pages: 304
The Great Conspiracy Foreign rights sold: Russian (Amphora)
Was George Washington replaced by Adam Weishaupt as the 1st president of the United States? Why was JFK murdered? Who knew about the 9/11 attacks before they happened? In this book Øystein Sørensen takes a closer look at how conspiracy theories have evolved from the 1700s up until today.
“A refreshing, articulated and sharp presentation of the modern history of conspiracy theories.”
Original title: Den store sammensvergelsen First published: 2009 Pages: 368
Dagbladet
Øystein Sørensen (born 1954) is Professor of History at the University of Oslo. In his books The Dream of A Perfect Society and The Great Conspiracy he combines serious science with a playful mind and a brilliant pen.
Narrative Non-Fiction / Spring 2010
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Odd Karsten Tveit
Goodbye Lebanon Israel’s First Defeat Original title: Libanon farvel, Israels første nederlag First published: 2010 Pages: 600
Those who read about the history of Lebanon will understand more of the complex Middle East. And those who read Goodbye Lebanon will gain insight into stories that have never been told before. This is a book about Israel’s longest war and first defeat, about the Hezbollah guerrilla that won respect, and about American forces that picked sides and had to leave Lebanon with great losses.
“Out of this season’s important Middle East books, the Norwegian journalist Odd Karsten Tveit’s book rises above the others” Information, Denmark
Odd Karsten Tveit is a journalist, writer and economist. His is a specialist on the Middle East, a subject on which he has written several books. Tveit has been a foreign correspondent for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) in the Middle East through three periods, from 1979 to 1983, from 1990 to 1994, and from 2003 to 2007. Tveit has also served as a major in the UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in Lebanon
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Upcoming titles Jan Kjærstad: Norman’s Area (novel) Merethe Lindstrøm: Days in the History of Silence (novel) Anne B. Ragde - novel Tore Renberg – new Jarle Klepp-novel Hanne Ørstavik – The Hyenas (novel) Øystein Wiik: The Butcher (crime novel)
….and many more. See you in Frankfurt!
Sjanger / Årstid Årstall
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