There are at least 330 words in the Norwegian language that describe the state of being drunk. Documentation of this sobering fact has just been released in the form of Norway’s first dictionary of synonyms for drunkenness, Norsk fylleordbok. It’s authored by Ole Marius Hylland, a culture historian at Telemarksforskning, a Norwegian research institute. If […]
Oslo’s new library draws good reviews
June 19, 2020
Architecture critics are hailing Oslo’s new city library, which officially opened on Thursday under the new name Deichman Bjørvika. It’s a lively statement of a new strategy for libraries, according to newspaper Klassekampen. It fits every ideal for a modern library, wrote newspaper Aftenposten. Reviewers disagree, however, on whether the actual book collection has the […]
Generations of readers hail ‘mormor’
February 19, 2020
Norwegians young and old are fondly remembering Anne-Cath Vestly, an author who pioneered children’s books from the child’s perspective and became a sort of national grandmother in the process. She would have been 100 years old this month. In numerous articles, exhibitions and a new biography, Vestly is hailed as a pioneer and innovator of […]
Heads shaking over new ‘Mein Kampf’
March 13, 2019
A Norwegian publishing firm is reportedly about to release the first new edition of Adolf Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf in Norwegian since Nazi Germany occupied Norway in 1941. Historians don’t think it’s a good idea. Newspaper Dagsavisen reported this week that Christhard Hoffmann, a professor of history at the University of Bergen, was asked to […]
Jagland soon to tell his tale
October 31, 2016
Thorbjørn Jagland kept quiet during all the recent fuss around the book released by his former rival within the Norwegian Labour Party, the current NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. In it, Stoltenberg revealed among other things how he plotted to replace Jagland as party leader, but now Jagland is working on a book of his own. Jagland, a former […]
Book lists Norway’s ‘most powerful’
August 30, 2016
Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Finance Minister Siv Jensen were, not surprisingly, included among Norway’s 252 most powerful people in a new book released on Tuesday. The list doesn’t rank those deemed most powerful other than in alphabetical order, but Solberg and Jensen made it into a selection of 25 people from politics, business, labour, academia, […]
Garden party allows the elite to meet
August 25, 2016
Rain was threatening the grandest of all Norwegian garden parties on Thursday, but those keen to “see and be seen” were likely to brave the weather and show up anyway. Publishing firm Aschehoug’s annual party for around 1,600 carefully invited guests is considered one of the social events of the year. “We’re looking forward to […]
Summer reading to enhance the mind
July 19, 2016
After a fall, winter and spring in a country facing the need for economic restructuring, it’s time to reflect and perhaps spend some time this summer reading about the art of being happy. Or simply coping with job losses and personal economic upheaval. Nicola McCaffrey, a clinical psychologist in Stavanger, shares some of her tips for books that […]
Publishing firms face collusion charges
June 28, 2016
Norway’s biggest book publishing companies were warned by competition authorities on Tuesday that they face charges of illegal cooperation and millions of kroner in fines. Cappelen Damm, Aschehoug, Gyldendal and Vigmostad & Bjørke (which took over Schibsted last year) were all named in the complaint issued by the state regulatory agency Konkurranstilsynet, which is in […]
Radical bookstore finds a new home
June 19, 2015
The fiercely independent Oslo bookstore Tronsmo Bokhandel has found a new home after months of uncertainty prompted by a cancelled lease. As it turns out, the bookstore can even stay in its current neighbourhood downtown. “I’m very relieved,” store manager Eva Stenlund Thorsen told newspaper Dagsavisen this week. Tronsmo and its 40,000 books will move just down the […]
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