Jan Grue was born in 1981 in Oslo. He holds a PhD in Linguistics and is Professor of Qualitative Research at the University of Oslo. He is the author of a wide-ranging body of work in fiction, non- fiction, and children’s literature. He made his debut with the short story collection Everything Under Control (2010), which was received with glowing reviews: “Grue is bright, he’s funny, academic and poetic, restless and patient, creative, analytical and sensitive. He has a broad repertoire and moves elegantly between different writing styles,” wrote the reviewer in Adresseavisen.
He has since published a further four short story collections, the latest of which is Vexations (2019). His first novel, The Best of All Possible Worlds, came out in 2016. Among Grue’s works for children is Oliver (2012), a fantastical story about living wheelchairs. His academic books include Body Language, on the subject of the representations of disability in a cultural and socio-analytical perspective, and Theory in Practice, a primer on critical analysis.
His book of autobiographical non-fiction, I Live a Life Like Yours, was published in 2018. “The book will, in all likelihood, linger as a mile stone signifying that a new maturity is reaching autobiographical literature in Norwegian non-fiction,” wrote Morgenbladet’s Ane Farsethås. Dagbladet’s reviewer called the book “a literary masterpiece that I recommend in the strongest terms!”, giving the book five stars. The book went on to win the Literary Critics’ Award and has been nominated to the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize – as the first Norwegian non-fiction book in 50 years. In 2021, Grue published a new book in the same genre, If I Fall. The book was awarded the P.O. Enquist Prize.
Events with Jan Grue:
