Bjørg Vik


Bjørg Vik was a Norwegian novelist, short story writer, playwright and journalist.

Biography

Bjørg Turid Vik was born in Oslo, Norway. Her parents were Sverre Thorbjørn Johansen and Anna Sofie Marcussen. She grew up in the neighborhood of St. Hanshaugen in Oslo. She completed examen artium at Hegdehaugen School in 1954 and attended the Journalist Academy in Oslo from 1955–56.
From 1956 to 1960, she was journalist for the newspaper Porsgrunns Dagblad. She made her literary debut in 1963 with the short story collection Søndag ettermiddag. Further collections from the 1960s are Nødrop fra en myk sofa and Det grådige hjerte. She also wrote five novels. Between 1988 and 1994 she published the semi-autobiographical Elsi Lund trilogy of novels about adolescence and maturity in post-war Oslo. The trilogy consists of
Små nøkler store rom, Poplene på St. Hanshaugen and Elsi Lund. Vik also published a series of plays and children's books. Her works have been translated into approx. 30 languages.
In 1957, she married architect Hans Jørgen Vik. She was co-founder of the feminist magazine Sirene.

Awards

Bjørg Vik was awarded the Riksmål Society Literature Prize in 1972 and the Aschehoug Prize in 1974 and the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1979 for the short stories En håndfull lengsel. She received the Dobloug Prize in 1987 and the Ibsen Prize in 1991.
She received the Cappelen Prize in 1982, which she shared with Jahn Otto Johansen, who died 6 days before her own death.