Bergljot Hobæk Haff

Bergljot Hobæk Haff (1925–2016) is counted amongst Norway’s finest novelists. Her oeuvre numbers 16 novels, characterized by a clever and original approach to the narrative, by a poetic inventiveness, and by wit and wisdom.

Born in the village of Botne in Vestfold, Hobæk Haff was educated as a teacher in Oslo. After her final exams she left for Denmark, married and took up work as a teacher outside of Copenhagen, where she stayed for ten years. In the late fifties she returned to Oslo to pursue her career as a writer, her second marriage taking her back to Denmark for several years, before again returning to Norway, living quietly and secluded. For most of her life she worked as a writer—after the publication of her first novel, she left her profession as a teacher for good.

Her 1956 debut, The Avalanche, is a psychological-realistic portrayal of a marriage, discussing themes such as free will, responsibility, shame and deep inner conflict. It was well received, praised for its brave and daring portrayal of people pushed to their wits’ end. Writing several historical novels, Hobæk Haff was always ahead of the prevailing literary trends, simply by sticking to her own, strong voice—each book at the same time being something entirely new and something unmistakably Haffian. In clear and imaginative prose she kept on tackling original and challenging themes, most of her books combining a mythological aspect with a realistic portrayal of humans, often addressing the religious longings of man. Her characters are often outcasts from society; isolated, expelled or persecuted, many of them strong women in a patriarchal world.