The author Vigdis Hjorth is one of the strongest voices in contemporary Norwegian literature. She grew up in Oslo and studied philosophy, literature, and political science. She published her first book, the children’s book Pelle-Ragnar i den gule garden, in 1983 and won the Kulturdepartementets pris literary prize. Since then, she has published a number of novels, children’s books, and articles, and has won numerous awards, among others. The novel Arv og miljö (Will and Testament) is probably Hjorth’s best known work and has been translated into many languages. In the novel, Hjorth writes about a woman who is caught in a dispute with her estranged family over a will, and the violence she suffered in her youth. It has been implied that the book is at least partially autobiographical, but it is unclear to what extent. Arv og miljö attracted a lot of publicity and resulted in a wide reaching conversation about the ethics of art that blurs the line between fiction and reality. Following the publication of Arv og miljø, Hjorth’s sister wrote her own novel about a writer who tears her family apart with an untrue novel about suffering family violence as a child. Hjorth has won numerous prizes and been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize.
Events with Vigdis Hjorth
