BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Library Market//iCal Export//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:International Authors Book Club UID:35893 DTSTAMP:20260412T115700Z DTSTART:20260618T193000Z DTEND:20260618T210000Z LOCATION:1730 Llano St, Santa Fe, NM 87505, United States ROOM: La Farge Library Community Room DESCRIPTION:Read an author of your choosing from a predetermined country. June's nation is Norway. We will meet each third Thursday of the mon th to discuss your author, their works, and any themes they explore. The suggested authors, all native born, represent just a fraction of Norway� 39;s rich literary tradition.The bolded titles are available through your Santa Fe Public Library as books or ebooks (Hoopla or Overdrive/Libby).Sug gested authors:Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, author of A Happy Boy and The Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson Megapack: 149 Classic Works (ebook)Winner of the 1903 Nobel Prize for Literature, Bjørnson was an advocate for those less fortunate in society and for small nations' right to freedom and ind ependence. He wrote novels, plays, and hundreds of poems – one of which is the Norwegian national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette landet (Yes, We Lo ve This Country).Lars Saabye Christensen, author of The Half-Brother an d King of Devil’s IslandAt the end of World War II, 20-year-old Vera is raped by an unknown assailant. From that rape is born a boy named Fred, a misfit who later becomes a talented boxer. Vera's young son, Barnum, forms a relationship with his half-brother, fraught with rivalry and depe ndence as well as love.It is Barnum, now a screenwriter with a fondness fo r lies and alcohol, who narrates his family's saga. As he shares his family's history, he chronicles generations of independent women and absent and flawed men whom he calls the Night Men.Jon Fosse, author of Al iss at the Fire, Morning and Evening, The Other Name: Septology I-III, I is another: Septology III-V,  A New Name: Septology VI-VII,  A Shining, Trilogy and VaimThe novelist, poet, and playwright has published 40-plus plays, as well as novels, poetry, essays and children’s books. He is fam ous for winning the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”"You don’t re ad my books for their plot," Fosse has said. But over the past two d ecades, he has won almost every award in the Nordic countries, and two of his former novels were finalists for the Booker Prize – The Other Name: Septology I-III and A New Name: Septology VI-VII. He is among the worl d’s most widely performed living playwrights.Karin Fossum, author of the  Inspector Sejer seriesThe queen of Norwegian crime’s books are calmer and colder, more interested in motive and remorse than in gore than most N ordic Noir writers. The series starts with Eva’s Eye (aka In The Dar kness) followed by Don’t Look Back, He Who Fears the Wolf, When the De vils Holds the Candle and The Indian Bride (aka Calling Out For You).J ostein Gaarder, author of The Solitaire Mystery, and Sophie’s World and  Questions Asked (children’s fiction)For a generation of international readers, Gaarder was their first Norwegian author. Sophie’s World i s a 1991 young adult novel that smuggles a philosophy course into a myster y, and it still sends curious teenagers into bookshops. Gaarder’s gift i s to make big ideas playful, and to remind readers that questions are a fo rm of adventure.Knut Hamsun, author of Growth of the Soil, Hunger, My 186 6 Lecture Tour, Pan, Victoria and Wanderers (all ebooks)Although Hamsu n's 1890 novel Hunger (also available as a book) is considered a p ioneering work of European modernism, it was his novel The Growth of the Soil that won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920.Hamsun (1859-1952 ) is often remembered for his contribution to the renewal of the novel, an d his modern view of the mind. However, in Norway it his common touch, and his vivid and humorous descriptions of local culture that endeared him to the public. That is evident in My 1886 Lecture Tour.Vigdis Hjorth, auth or of If Only, Will and Testament and Repetition (eaudiobook)In Will and Testament, Bergljot’s mother and father decided to leave two island summer houses to her sisters, disinheriting the two eldest siblings. To ou tsiders, it is a quarrel about property and favoritism. But Bergljot, who has borne a horrible secret since childhood, understands the gesture as a final attempt to suppress the truth and a cruel insult.Hjorth writes abou t family conflicts with a clarity that makes most readers uncomfortable.  Anne Holt, author of the Vik & Stubø and the Hanne Wilhelmsen seri esThe five-novel series (2001-12) by the former Labour Party Minister of J ustice brings together two very different investigators: Johanne Vik, a ps ychologist and former FBI profiler now teaching at Oslo University, and Ad am Stubo, a dogged detective inspector carrying deep personal grief. Their cases mix traditional police work with psychological profiling and big mo ral questions about guilt, punishment and forgiveness.The 11-book Hanne Wi lhelmsen series (1993-2021) focuses on the aforementioned chief inspector that began with Holt’s literary debut Blind Goddess, followed in order b y Blessed Are Those Who Thirst, Death of the Demon, The Lion’s Mouth, D ead Joker, No Echo, Beyond the Truth, 1222, Offline (Odd Numbers), In Dust and Ashes and The Eleventh Manuscript (not yet translated).Henrik Ibsen, author of Brand, Enemy of the People, Ghosts, Hedda Gabbler, Little Eyol f, The Master Builder and Peer Gynt (all ebooks) and A Doll’s HouseOne of the most influential playwrights of all time, Ibsen’s works are set in the Norwegian farming society of the 19th century and feature music by Edvard Grieg. Peer Gynt shaped the nascent country's conception o f its identity, which it shared with the world.Roy Jacobsen, author of  Borders, Child Wonder, Eyes of the Rigel (ebook), Just a Mother, and The Unseen The Barrøy novels, beginning with The Unseen, give you i sland life along the northern coast with a tactile sense of work, weather, and family. Jacobsen is perfect for readers who want to feel the salt and the cold, and who enjoy a novel that respects practical people. Alexande r Kielland, author of Fortuna, Garman & Worse, Gift, Skipper Worse and St. Hans Fest Despite being the son of factory owners, Kielland re mained a spokesman for the weak and a critic of society.  Among his mo st famous works are the novels Gift (1883), Skipper Worse (1882) an d Garman & Worse (1880). Gift (published in English as Poiso n) is the first of a trilogy including Fortuna (1884) and St. Hans F est (1887) that satirizes the hypocrisy of Norway's clergy. Jan Kjærstad, author of the Jonas Wergeland trilogy (The Seducer, The Conqu eror and The Discoverer) With a string of ingenious novels Kjærstad is  established as one of the leading and most original writers in contempora ry Norwegian literature. His main work, the trilogy about the TV presente r Jonas Wergeland, a fictive biography that tells three different version s about the protagonist's life, combines several different genres  Karl Ove Knausgård, author of My Struggle, Volumes 1-6 and The Seasons QuartetKnausgård is critically acclaimed for his six-volume autobiograph ical series My Struggle. Although he didn't think anyone would be in terested in reading about his life, it made him a worldwide sensation, and the novels have been translated into 30 languages.Jonas Lie, author of The Jonas Lie Megapack: 14 Classic Novels and Stories (ebook) Lie often  sought to reflect in his writings the nature, folk life, and social spi rit of the nation of Norway. His writing often dealt with family life in d iverse settings, including portraying the social and intellectual restrict ions on women of the educated classes. Henrik Ibsen, Alexander Kielland, Lie and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson are considered the four greats of 19th century Norwegian literature, establishing the country’s cultural ide ntity following Danish rule – what Ibsen called “The Four Hundred Years of Darkness.” His two collections of short stories called Trold  involve the superstitions of the fishermen and coast commoners of nor thern Norway (Fjord Norway) which were featured in Roald Dahl's Bo ok of Ghost Stories (1983). Maja Lunde, author of Blue, The End of the Ocean, The History of Bees and The Last Wild HorsesThe Oslo native has written several successful children's books and TV series. She' ;s most famous for The History of Bees (2015), her first novel for adult s. In the sequel Blue (2017) the plot is set in the northern Fjord Norway region. This time the struggle concerns the most vital resource there is : water.She is currently working to create a TV series of her books focusi ng on family relationships and the importance of bees.Lars Mytting, autho r of The Bell in the Lake, The Night of the Scourge, The Reindeer Hunters , and The Sixteen Trees of the SommeThe Bell in the Lake (2018) is the first in a modern Norwegian folklore trilogy based on the legends and hi story of Gudbrandsdalen. The book is about a community on the brink of mod ernization and the local resistance that is roused when a German architec t and a young priest wish to tear down the stave church. Norway was once h ome to more than 1,300 stave churches, but only 28 remain.Mytting broke t hrough as a writer with the still-bestselling nonfiction work, Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way (ebook)Jo Nesbø, author of the Harry Hole seriesThe musician and mountain climbe r’s international bestselling crime series features propulsive, twisty i nvestigations by damaged police detective Harry Hole (pronounced Ho-lay) t hat deliver a harsh look at Oslo at night, addiction, and the cost of obse ssion.The longtime series includes The Bat (1997), The Snowman (2007), and Police (2013), several of which have been adapted for the screen in cluding The Devil’s Star, a new Detective Hole series on Netflix.He also writes the Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder children’s series – often set in the Oslo sewers --  and several standalone crime novels including  Macbeth, a modern retelling of the classic for the Hogarth Shakespeare s eries.Per Petterson, author of I Curse the River of Time, In the Wake, I Refuse, It’s Fine by Me, Men in My Situation, Out Stealing Horses and  To SiberiaConsider his finest work, Out Stealing Horses tells the story of a man named Trond who reflects on his childhood and the events that sha ped his life. The novel explores themes of memory, loss, and the passage o f time, and is known for its lyrical prose and evocative descriptions of t he Norwegian landscape.Petterson’s writing style is characterized by its introspection and ability to capture the nuances of human emotions. His n ovels delve into the complexities of relationships and the impact of exper iences on present-day lives.Amalie Skram, author of Knud TandbergHer natur alist novels dissect marriage, medicine, and the treatment of women with h ard light. Skram is an early Scandinavian counterpart of Henrik Ibsen bu t reading her feels quite modern.Dag Solstad, author of Shyness and Digni tySolstad’s landmark work is a meditative portrayal of one man's ov erwhelming inability to connect with contemporary society.  Elias Rukla b egins yet another day under the leaden Oslo sky. At the high school where he teaches, a novel insight into Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck grips h im with a passion so intense that he barely notices the disinterest of his students. After the lesson, when a broken umbrella provokes an unpredicta ble rage, he barely notices the students' intense curiosity. He soon realizes, however, that this day will be the decisive day of his life.Gunn ar Staalesen, author of the detective Varg Veum seriesBergen is the sett ing for his crime novels about hard-nosed private detective Varg Veum. S taalesen was born and raised, and still lives, in Norway's second big gest city, located in Fjord Norway. Outside the fictitious detective' s office at Strandkaien 2, you'll find a statue of Veum, who appear s in At Night All Wolves Are Grey, Big Sister, Bitter Flowers, Cold Heart s, We Shall Inherit the Wind, Wolves at the Door and Wolves in the Dark. Linn Ullmann, author of A Blessed Child, The Cold Song, Girl, 1983 and  UnquietUnquiet is a genre-bending novel about time, memory, and the aut hor's extraordinary childhood as the daughter of filmmaker Ingmar Ber gman and his muse, actor and director Liv Ullmann. If you like autobiograp hical fiction with restraint and style, consider this work.Sigrid Undset, author of The Ax, The Bridal Wreath, The Cross, The Garland, In the Wilde rness, Jenny, The Wife (all ebooks) and Kristin Lavsrandatter trilogy ( 1,144 pages).Winner of the 1928 Nobel Prize for Literature for the Kristi n Lavransdatter trilogy -- The Bridal Wreath (aka The Wreath), The Wi fe (aka The Mistress of Husaby) and The Cross -- principally for her “powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages.” Her w ork is much admired for its historical accuracy.Cultural, autobiographical , and religious topics constitute a large and interesting portion of her f iction, which is categorized as medieval or modern. Jenny (1911), an ide alistic and tragic love story, is one of the latter novels.During World Wa r II she escaped the German occupation of Norway and fled to America, wher e she wrote her autobiographical Happy Times in Norway (1942).Various auth ors, Heimskringla (aka The Kings‘ Sagas, multiple ebooks)Heimskringla  is a collection of sagas about the Swedish and Norwegian kings, beginnin g with the saga of the legendary Swedish-Norwegian dynasty of the Ynglings , followed by accounts of historical Norwegian rulers from Harald Fairhair  of the 9th century up to the death of the pretender Eystein Meyla in 117 7.The authorship of Heimskringla is not referred to within the text or in any surviving manuscript—as is usually the case for a medieval work—an d its first written collection is attributed to Icelandic historian Snorr i Sturluson, who was raised by minor Norwegian nobility living in the the n-independent nation. He later allied himself with Norwegian King Haakon, hoping to become King of Iceland, only to be assassinated under Haakon’s orders. The first surviving works in which he is credited are the 16th-ce ntury translations into Danish by the Norwegians Peder Claussøn Friis a nd Laurents Hanssøn.King Harald’s Saga (part of Heimskringla) is av ailable in hard copy.Herbjørg Wassmo, author of the Dina series and Tor a trilogyWassmo’s works display a fierce empathy for girls and women con strained by poverty, shame, and social judgment, and her storytelling has the intensity of a ballad. Wassmo’s northern settings are not scenic dis tractions; they are conditions to survive.Henrik Wergeland, author of nume rous poetry collectionsThe poet, playwright, polemicist, historian, and li nguist is often described as a leading pioneer in the development of a dis tinctly Norwegian literary heritage and of modern Norwegian culture. His w orks reflecting national pride remain influential today.Though he only liv ed to 37, his range of pursuits covered literature, theology, history, con temporary politics, social issues, and science. His views were controversi al in his time, and his literary style often denounced as subversive.For a ccommodations such as translations, ASL interpreters, or disability needs, please email library@santafenm.gov or call 505-955-6786. URL:https://www.santafelibrary.org/event/international-authors-book-club-3 5893 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR