about himself
about Gunnar Staalesen
![[ Staffage ]](bilder/prikblaa.gif){kind=small}
information
![[ Cultural City Bergen ]](bilder/logo50.gif){kind=logo}
| Start |
| Gunnar Staalesen about himself |
| About Gunnar Staalesen |
| Articles & books about Gunnar Staalesen |
| Dissertations |
| Prizes/Awards |
| Reviews |
| Links |
|
| Bibliography |
| Contact information |
|
|
| Gunnar Staalesen, b. 1947. Bergen, Norway. Cand. philol., University of Bergen, 1976
(Master's in English, minors in French and Literature). Information secretary for Den
Nationale Scene 1972-73 and 1976-87. Now a full-time author.
Although born and raised in Bergen, in a city where such things are important I unfortunately cannot boast of being anything more than a first-generation Bergenser. I don't even have Sunnfjord blood in my veins. My father, a lector in higher education, came from Haugesund, and my mother, a nurse, was from Fredrikstad. As an author, I am nevertheless grateful that destiny deposited me in Bergen, this city which imprints itself on the soul: more landscape than city; as much weather and nature as streets and alleys. During the most significant part of my childhood, from six to sixteen, I lived in Nordnes, a central part of the city built on a peninsula that juts out into Byfjorden. I have therefore always considered myself a "Nordnesgutt". What impressed me most in my childhood was playing in World War II ruins: Nordnes was one of the areas of Bergen hardest struck by both coastal bombing and the great ammunitions explosion of April 20, 1944. Only in the beginning of the sixties were these areas rebuilt; the war was a constant and vivid presence for those of us who grew up there. I began to write already at the age of 12 or 13. I was a bookworm who plowed through the shelves of Bergen Public Library's children's section until I'd left no book unread, and turned from there to the adult section, the literature of the entire world before my eyes ... My own writing came as a natural consequence of this interest; first as a hobby and something to do in my free time, later as a side occupation, and finally, from 1987, as a full-time profession. One of my theses is that most authors write books of the type they most like to read. I have always enjoyed reading crime fiction, from my first encounter with Sherlock Holmes. Accordingly, crime literature became the part of the literary landscape where I first and foremost feel at home. Nevertheless, over the years I have also made occasional forays to other waters: drama, children's literature and, from 1996 to the present, an extensive historical trilogy spanning the entire twentieth century, with parts of the narrative set in a special geographical place - Bergen.  Translated by Deborah Miller
|
|||
|
