Forfatterne #30

Forfatterne is Deichman Grünerløkka’s monthly reading series.

Each month, we invite four authors to read from their (usually) latest books!

Each author reads for 15–20 minutes. There will be a break midway through the programme.

This month’s authors and books:

Kaja Schjerven Mollerin: Ved mørkets frembrudd - Sigrid Undset, Nini Roll Anker og krigens realitet (2026)

This is a book about the self-proclaimed pacifist Nini Roll Anker and the staunch anti-pacifist Sigrid Undset. It explores what the two authors wrote about war and peace over a period of almost forty years, why they wrote what they did, and how their work might resonate with readers today.

Ved mørkets frembrudd is also an essay about a complicated friendship between two of the most distinctive authors of the interwar period.

Kaja Schjerven Mollerin is a critic for Klassekampen, former editor of Vinduet and a member of the editorial team at the journal Agora. She has written numerous books, including books about Jan Erik Vold, Vigdis Hjorth, Cecilie Løveid, Gunvor Hofmo, Susan Sontag and Hans Herbjørnsrud. She currently works at Nasjonalbiblioteket.

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Karin Haugane: Om språk mellom fremmede (2026)

Språk mellom fremmede is a collection of essays exploring what happens to the language of writers and filmmakers who are thrust into a state of foreignness, where their social and religious roots are disrupted. All the writers Karin Haugane highlights — Mahmoud Darwish, Yahya Hassan, Al-Khansā’, Hélène Cixous, Gabriela Mistral, Clarice Lispector, Sarah Kane, Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, John Keats, Edith Södergran, Robert Frost, Claire Denis, Aleksandr Blok and Erland Kiøsterud — give language to this sense of foreignness, a language we all need in order to move forward in this chaotic world.

Karin Haugane made her debut in 1989 with the poetry collection Rester av glemsel. She is also a translator and has, among other works, translated Arthur Rimbaud and Ingeborg Bachmann into Norwegian verse.

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Jan Kjærstad: En verdig sak for Thomas Hegel (2026)

Thomas Hegel has two professions. He investigates infidelity and writes song lyrics, and he knows well that there is no language for love. At times the novel is a kind of spy novel, at times a love story, at times a declaration of love to Oslo, but never just one of these things.

Jan Kjærstad made his debut in 1980 with the short story collection Kloden dreier stille rundt. In addition to his novels, he has written picture books and several collections of essays.

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Sandra Lillebø: Vera (2026)

A woman meets her first boyfriend again and is drawn back to her teenage years in Dalen, when her parents gave her the horse Vera. Vera is a foal, a living creature that requires work and attention, and a great responsibility is placed on the young girl, who is used to spending most of her time alone. Later, when she meets the boy, who is two years older than her, he becomes a lifeline in much the same way: a fragile, intimate connection that is both overwhelming and hard to grasp.

Sandra Lillebø made her debut in 2011 with the poetry collection Navnet på den ensomme er frigitt. Her second book, the poetry collection Alt skal skinne og blø, was published in 2016. Lillebø’s first novel, Tingenes tilstand, was published in 2020 to rave reviews, followed by the novel En fransk familie in 2023.

Welcome!

Forfatterne is supported by Norsk kulturråd.

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