thumb|250 px|Midtbø in Vinje, site of the home of [[novelist Tarjei Vesaas and poet Halldis Moren Vesaas]]

Tarjei Vesaas () (20 August 1897 – 15 March 1970) was a Norwegian poet and novelist. Vesaas is widely considered to be one of Norway's greatest writers of the twentieth century and perhaps its most important since World War II.

Vesaas' work is characterized by simple, terse, and symbolic prose.

His novels have been translated into 28 languages. Several of his books have been translated into English—many of them published by Peter Owen Publishers—among them Spring Night, The Birds, Through Naked Branches, and The Ice Palace. He was the oldest of three sons, and was guilt-ridden by his refusal to take over the family farm which had been in the family for almost 300 years. He was forced to leave school at fourteen, and never had any higher education except for a year at Voss Folk High School from 1917 to 1918.

His uncle was the Norwegian art historian and painter Øystein Vesaas. These early works had many authorial influences, including Rabindranath Tagore; Rudyard Kipling; Selma Lagerlöf, especially her Gösta Berling's Saga; Knut Hamsun, particularly his neo-romantic novels, Pan and Victoria; Henrik Ibsen; and Hans E. Kinck. The poems of Edith Södergran caused him to shift more towards the free verse form; Olav Aukrust, Olav Nygard, and Olaf Bull were also poetic inspirations.

Vesaas sold his first short stories to a magazine in the early 1920s. A year later, his second novel Huskuld the Herald was published, which tells the story of a village eccentric whose final years are brightened when he befriends a young child abandoned by his mother.

Vesaas' first successful novel came with the release of Dei svarte hestane (The Black Horses) in 1928, after his previous works were adversely criticized.

In 1930, Vesaas published Fars reise (Father's Journey), the first in a tetralogy focusing on protagonist Klas Dyregodt. The second and third books in the series, Sigrid Stallbrokk and Dei ukjende mennene (The Unknown Men), were published in 1931 and 1932, respectively. the final novel in the series, Hjarta høyrer sine heimlandstonar (The Heart Hears Its Native Music), was published six years later in 1938. It has a much lighter tone than the first three novels. Ultimatum focuses on the reactions of a group of young people just before a war breaks out. It features a flashing neon sign, adapted from the stage effects Vesaas had seen while traveling in Germany. The play was inspired by Vesaas' frightened reaction to German soldiers marching and holding swastikas.

Experimentation (1940–1956)

Vesaas' novel Kimen (The Seed) is frequently seen as a dividing line between his earlier realistic novels and his later, more symbolic and experimental works. The novel was written in the summer of 1940 during the first few months of the German occupation of Norway.

In the winter and spring of 1945, Vesaas wrote his next novel, Huset i mørkret (The House in the Dark), an allegorical novel about the German occupation and the Norwegian resistance movement during the Second World War. Kjeldene (The Springs), Vesaas' first poetry collection, was published in 1946. In 1931, Vesaas' wife Halldis Moren gave him a poetry collection by Edith Södergran; these inspired Vesaas to begin writing poetry himself. His initial attempts were unsuccessful, causing him to turn away from poetry. However, fourteen years later, his passion for poetry reemerged, and he wrote The Springs.

Also in 1946, Vesaas' novel Bleikeplassen (The Bleaching Place), was published. The book is an extensively reworked version of his unpublished play Vaskehuset, which he had withdrawn from its public premiere six years earlier.

In 1948, his novel Tårnet (The Tower) was published. Vårnatt (Spring Night), Vesaas' next novel, was published in 1954.

Later works (1957–1970)

The most famous of his works are The Ice Palace (Is-slottet), a story of two girls who build a profoundly strong relationship, and The Birds (Fuglane), a story of an adult of a simple childish mind, which through his tenderhearted empathy and imagination bears the role of a seer or writer. He was awarded the Nordic Council's Literature Prize in 1963 for The Ice Palace.

Vesaas' fourth and final short story collection, Ein vakker dag (A Lovely Day), was published in 1959. The stories in the collection primarily deal with everyday events.

His final poetry collection, Liv ved straumen (Life by the Stream), was released posthumously in 1970.

One of his poems features in S3E6 of the famous Norwegian TV series Skam. Its original name is "Kvart et mennske er en oy", which roughly translates to "Every man is an island".

Awards

  • 1943 – Gyldendal's Endowment (Gyldendals legat)
  • 1946 – Melsom Prize (Melsom-prisen)
  • 1957 – Dobloug Prize (Doblougprisen)
  • 1964 – Nordic Council's Literature Prize (Nordisk råds litteraturpris)
  • 1967 – Norwegian Booksellers' Prize (Bokhandlerprisen)

Works

Novels

  • Menneskebonn (Children of Man, 1923)
  • Sendemann Huskuld (Huskuld the Herald, 1924)
  • Dei svarte hestane (The Black Horses, 1928)
  • Sandeltreet (The Sandalwood, 1933)
  • Kimen (The Seed, 1940)
  • Translated by Kenneth G. Chapman (Peter Owen Publishers, 1964)
  • Huset i mørkret (The House in the Dark, 1945)
  • Translated by Elizabeth Rokkan (Peter Owen Publishers, 1976)
  • Bleikeplassen (The Bleaching Place, 1946)
  • Translated by Elizabeth Rokkan (Peter Owen Publishers, 1981); published as The Bleaching Yard
  • Tårnet (The Tower, 1948)
  • Signalet (The Signal, 1950)
  • Vårnatt (Spring Night, 1954)
  • Translated by Kenneth G. Chapman (Peter Owen Publishers, 1964)
  • Fuglane (The Birds, 1957)
  • Translated by Torbjørn Støverud and Michael Barnes (Peter Owen Publishers, 1968)
  • Brannen (The Fire, 1961)
  • Is-slottet (The Ice Palace, 1963)
  • Translated by Elizabeth Rokkan (Peter Owen Publishers, 1966)
  • Bruene (The Bridges, 1966)
  • Translated by Elizabeth Rokkan (Peter Owen Publishers, 1969)
  • Båten om Kvelden (The Boat in the Evening, 1968)
  • Translated by Elizabeth Rokkan (Peter Owen Publishers, 1971)
  • In 2019, the same translation was republished by Archipelago Books under the title The Hills Reply

Grinde Farm series

  • Grindegard: Morgonen (Grinde Farm, 1925)
  • Grinde‐kveld, eller Den gode engelen (Evening at Grinde, or The Good Angel, 1926)

Klas Dyregodt series

  • Fars reise (Father's Journey, 1930)
  • Sigrid Stallbrokk (1931)
  • Dei ukjende mennene (The Unknown Men, 1932)
  • Hjarta høyrer sine heimlandstonar (The Heart Hears Its Native Music, 1938)

The Great Cycle series

  • Det store spelet (The Great Cycle, 1934)
  • Translated by Elizabeth Rokkan (University of Wisconsin Press, 1967)
  • Kvinnor ropar heim (Women Call Home, 1935)

Poetry

  • Kjeldene (The Springs, 1946)
  • Leiken og lynet (The Game and the Lightning, 1947)
  • Lykka for ferdesmenn (Wanderers' Happiness, 1949)
  • Løynde eldars land (Land of Hidden Fires, 1953)
  • Translated by Fritz König and Jerry Crisp (Wayne State University Press, 1973)
  • Ver ny, vår draum (May Our Dream Stay New, 1956)
  • Liv ved straumen (Life by the Stream, 1970)

Short story collections

  • Klokka i haugen (The Bell in the Mound, 1929)
  • Leiret og hjulet (The Clay and the Wheel, 1936)
  • Vindane (The Winds, 1952)
  • Ein vakker dag (A Lovely Day, 1959)

Plays

  • Guds bustader (God's Abodes, 1925)
  • Ultimatum (1934)
  • Morgonvinden (Morning Wind, 1947)

See also

  • Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris

References

Sources

  • Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, vol. 4, ed. S. R. Serafin, 1999;
  • Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature, ed. Jean-Albert Bédé & William B. Edgerton, 1980;