Knut Hamsun: Short biography.

Knut Hamsun is the pseudonym of Knut Pedersen (born August 4, 1859, Lom, Norway, died February 19, 1952, near Grimstad). Knut Hamsun was a great Norwegian novelist, dramatist, poet, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920 for his wonderful book Growth of the Soil.

Knut Hamsun was viewed by many as a leader of the Neo-romantic revolt in literature at the turn of the century, to a large extent because of Hunger (Sult, 1890), his first serious publication, and some claim that Hamsun rescued the novel from a tendency toward excessive naturalism. Hunger (see review) tells the story of a starving young writer in Norway. Hunger marked a clear departure from the social realism of the typical Norwegian novel of this period. Its refreshing viewpoint and impulsive, lyrical style had an electrifying effect on European writers. Knut Hamsun followed his first success with a series of lectures that revealed his obsession with August Strindberg, and where he attacked such idols as Henrik Ibsen and Leo Tolstoy. Knut Hamsun was a productive writer, and produced a flow of works that continued until his death.

Knut Hamsun, who was of peasant origin, grew up in poverty, and spent most of his childhood in the remote Lofoten Islands in the Northern parts of Norway. He had almost no formal education. Hamsun started to write at age 19, when he was a shoemaker's apprentice in Bodø, a town in Northern Norway.

During the next 10 years, Knut Hamsun worked more or less as a casual laborer. Twice Hamsun visited the United States, where he held mostly menial jobs in Chicago, North Dakota, and in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 1898, Knut Hamsun married Bergljot Goepfert, but this marriage ended in 1906. Hamsun then married the promising young actress Marie Andersen (b. 1881) in 1909. Marie Hamsun became his lifelong companion. (She later wrote about their life together in her two biographical books about their life.) Marie Hamsun ended her career and traveled with Hamsun to Hamarøy, where Knut Hamsun was born. They bought a farm, the idea being "to earn their living as farmers, with his writing providing some additional income".

However, after only a few years, Marie and Knut Hamsun decided to move south, to Larvik. In 1918, the couple bought Nørholm, an old and somewhat dilapidated manor house between Lillesand and Grimstad. The main residence was restored and redecorated. Here Hamsun could occupy himself with his writing undisturbed, even though he often traveled to write in other cities and places (preferably in spartan housing).

Knut Hamsun collaborated with the Nazis during WW-II, and was fined NKR 325.000 for it after the war. Tragically, this collaboration also seriously damaged Hamsun's reputation, both in Norway and internationally. However, after his death critical interest in Hamsun's works was renewed and new translations once more made his books accessible to an international readership.

Knut Hamsun died in his home at Nørholm, aged 92. Regardless of his political affiliations, Hamsun clearly is one of the greatests and most interesting writers of all time, and deserves considerable attention from lovers of great literature.

Links to books by Knut Hamsun at Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Amazon CAN

Knut Hamsun: Biographies and other materials

Baumgartner, Walter: Knut Hamsun.

Thompson, Gale: Biography - Hamsun, Knut (1859-1952): An article from: Contemporary Authors Online.

Ernest Hemingway, Knut Hamsun, Hermann Hesse (Nobel Prize Library) (Hardcover - 1971)

The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy: Recollections and Short Essays by Gary Soto (Paperback - Jan 2001) In The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy you will find writing that is sad, funny and sadly funny. It contains insights that are both personal and universal. An interesting and personal book.

Josef. Wiehr: Knut Hamsun, his personality and his outlook upon life, . (Hardcover - Jan 1922)

Knut Hamsun, Novelist: A Critical Assessment by Sverre Lyngstad (Hardcover - April 11, 2005)

Die Wiederkehr der Zeichen: Eine psychoanalytische Studie zu Knut Hamsuns "Hunger" (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Germanistik und Skandinavistik) by Thomas Fechner-Smarsly (Perfect Paperback - 1991)

The Roots of Modernist Narrative: Knut Hamsun's Novels Hunger, Mysteries and Pan, by Martin Humpal (Hardcover - Dec 1999)

Robert Ferguson: Enigma: The Life of Knut Hamsun (Paperback - April 1988)

Knut Hamsun: Selected Letters, Vol. I: 1879-1898 (Norvik Press) Series A: Scandinavian Literary History and Criticism) by Knut Hamsun (Paperback - 1 Mar 1990)

Selected Letters: 1898-1952 v. 2 (Series A: ScandinavianLiterary History and Criticism) by Knut Hamsun, Harald Naess, and James McFarlane

Neues Zu Knut Hamsun (Hardcover - Dec 2002)

Monika Zagar: Knut Hamsun: The Dark Side of Literary Brilliance (New Directions in Scandinovian Studies)