Roy Jacobsen
Roy Jacobsen (born 26 December 1954) is a Norwegian novelist and short-story writer. Born in Oslo, he made his publishing début in 1982 with the short-story collection Fangeliv (Prison Life), which won Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris. He is winner of The Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature and two of his novels have been nominated for The Nordic Council's Literature Prize: Seierherrene (The Conquerors) in 1991 and Frost in 2004. The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles was published in Britain in 2008. Jacobsen lives in Oslo.
Contents
- 1 Early life - and authorship
- 2 Bibliography
- 3 Prizes
- 4 References
- 5 External links
Early life - and authorship
Roy Jacobsen grew up in a suburb of Oslo located in the Groruddalen valley. In his teens, Jacobsen was a member of the criminal "Årvoll gang". At age 16 he was arrested by the police and kept in solitary confinement for 35 days. He was subsequently convicted of among other things weapons offences and theft, and given a six-month suspended sentence.
He held a number of occupations, even subsequent to his debut as a novelist in 1982. Since 1990 he has been a full-time author. During the years 1979 - 1986 he lived at his mother's homestead at Solfjellsjøen in the municipality Dønna in the Northern Norwegian county Nordland, and both the background of his mother as well as his own upbringing in Groruddalen were central themes of his breakthrough novel Seierherrene from 1991.
He is a member of the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature.
Bibliography
- Fangeliv - short stories (1982)
- Hjertetrøbbel - novel (1984)
- Tommy - novel (1985)
- Det nye vannet - novel (1987) (English 1997: The new water)
- Virgo - novel (1988)
- Det kan komme noen - short stories (1989)
- Ursula - barnebok (1990)
- Seierherrene - novel (1991)
- Fata Morgana - novel (1992)
- Den høyre armen - short stories (1994)
- Trygve Bratteli. En fortelling - biography of Trygve Bratteli (1995)
- Ismael - novel (1998)
- Grenser - novel (1999) (English 2015: Borders)
- Fugler og soldater - short stories (2001)
- Det nye vinduet - short stories (2002)
- Frost - novel (2003)
- Hoggerne - novel (2005) (English 2007: The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles)
- Marions slør - novel (2007)
- Vidunderbarn - novel (2009) (English 2011: Child Wonder)
- De Usynlige - novel (2013) (English 2016: The Unseen)
- Hvitt hav - novel (2015)
- Rigels øyne - novel (2017)
Prizes
- Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris 1982, for Fangeliv
- Cappelenprisen 1987
- Notabeneprisen 1988
- Kritikerprisen 1989, for Det kan komme noen
- Bokhandlerprisen 1991, for Seierherrene
- Scheiblers legat 1991
- Ivar Lo-prisen 1994
- Oslo bys kunstnerpris 1994
- Riksmålsforbundets litteraturpris 2003
- Gyldendalprisen 2005
- Ungdommens kritikerpris 2006
References
External links
- Publisher's profile
- Times Literary Supplement review of The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles, by Paul Owen