Editing Jan Kjærstad

{{short description|Norwegian author (born 1953)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
[[File:Jan Kjærstad Oslo bokfestival 2011.jpg|thumb|Jan Kjærstad (2011)]]
'''Jan Kjærstad''' (born 6 March 1953 in [[Oslo]]) is a [[Norway|Norwegian]] author.<ref>[http://www.snl.no/Jan_Kj%C3%A6rstad Jan Kjærstad] in [[Store norske leksikon]] {{in lang|no}}</ref><ref name="snl2">[http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Jan_Kj%C3%A6rstad/utdypning Jan Kjærstad – utdypning] in [[Store norske leksikon]] {{in lang|no}}</ref> Kjærstad is a theology graduate from [[MF Norwegian School of Theology]] and the [[University of Oslo]] (cand. theol.). He has written a string of novels, short stories and essays and was editor of the literary magazine ''[[Vinduet (magazine)|Vinduet]]'' ("The Window").  He has received a number of prizes, the most important being the [[Nordic Council]] Literature Prize, which he received for the perspectivist trilogy about the TV personality Jonas Wergeland (''The Seducer'', ''The Conqueror'' and ''[[The Discoverer]]'').

With a string of ingenious novels Kjærstad is established as one of the leading and most original writers in contemporary Norwegian literature. His writing in the 1980s was [[postmodern literature|postmodern]] works that put special emphasis on the importance of the [[information society]]. Kjærstad has often been called an [[encyclopedic]] writer. His main work, the trilogy about Jonas Wergeland, a fictive biography that tells three different versions about the protagonists life, combines several different genres.<ref name="snl2" />

His books have been translated to English, French, German, Danish, Swedish, and Hungarian, among others.

== Bibliography ==

* ''The Earth Turns Quietly'' ("Kloden dreier stille rundt", Short stories, 1980)
* ''Mirrors'' ("Speil", Novel, 1982)
* ''Homo Falsus or the Perfect Murder'' ("Homo Falsus eller det perfekte mord", Novel, 1984)
* ''The Great Fairy Tale'' ("Det store eventyret". Novel, 1987)
* ''The Matrix of Man'' ("Menneskets matrise", Essays, 1989)
* ''The Arabian Nights'', vols 1 and 2 ("Tusen og én natt", Bind 1 og 2. Ed. 1989)
* ''The Hunt for the Hidden Waffle Hearts'' ("Jakten på de skjulte vaffelhjertene", Picture book, 1989)
* ''Brink'' ("Rand", Novel, 1990)
* ''The Seducer'' ("Forføreren", Novel, 1993)
* ''With Sheherazade, Imagination's Queen'' ("Hos Sheherasad, fantasiens dronning", Picture book, 1995)
* ''The Conqueror'' ("Erobreren", Novel, 1996)
* ''The Human Sphere'' ("Menneskets felt", Essays, 1997)
* ''[[The Discoverer]]'' ("Oppdageren",  Novel, 1999)
* ''Signs for Love'' ("Tegn til kjærlighet", Novel, 2002)
* ''The King of Europe'' ("Kongen av Europa", Novel, 2005)
* ''I am the Walker brothers'' ("Jeg er brødrene Walker", Novel, 2008)
* ''The Path of Kins'' ("Slekters gang", Novel, 2015)
* ''Berge'' (Novel, 2017)

== Prizes and recognition ==
*1984 – [[Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment]] (a prize awarded to promising authors in memory of Mads Wiel Nygaard by the publisher [[Aschehoug]])
*1984 – [[Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature]] for ''Homo Falsus''
*1993 – Aschehougprisen (the primary literature prize awarded annually by the publisher [[Aschehoug]])
*1998 – Henrik Steffens-prisen (the [[Henrik Steffens]] literature prize is awarded by the university system in [[Hamburg]])
*2000 – Doblougprisen (Awarded by the [[Swedish Academy]])
*2001 – [[Nordic Council's Literature Prize]] for ''Oppdageren''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dobloug Prize winners}}
{{The Nordic Council's Literature Prize}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kjaerstad, Jan}}
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from Oslo]]
[[Category:20th-century Norwegian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Norwegian novelists]]
[[Category:Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature winners]]
[[Category:University of Oslo alumni]]
[[Category:Dobloug Prize winners]]
[[Category:Postmodern writers]]
[[Category:Nordic Council Literature Prize winners]]