Writing career Johan Harstad

1 writing career

1.1 fiction
1.2 plays
1.3 non-fiction

writing career
fiction

harstad born in stavanger. made literary debut in 2001, collection of short prose entitled herfra blir du bare eldre ( here on in older ). following year published collection of short stories called ambulanse ( ambulance ) , 2005 saw publication of first novel, buzz aldrin, hvor ble det av deg alt mylderet? ( buzz aldrin, happened in confusion? ). novel set in faroe islands in north atlantic ocean. deals person who, instead of trying best, decides second best in life, hero, buzz aldrin, second man on moon. in 2009 novel made television series, starring chad coleman other, known scandinavian actors, including pål sverre valheim hagen , bjarne henriksen. rights book have been sold united states, australia, sweden, denmark, finland, netherlands, germany, faroe islands, italy, russia, turkey, south korea , france. demanding book translated english, editor in publishing house simon & schuster likened harstad s work of jonathan safran foer. book published in english 7 stories press in new york in june 2011.

in 2007, harstad published hässelby, novel children s book character alfie atkins life adult, held responsible end of world. novel influenced david lynch s tv series twin peaks, theory of synchronicity , arthur koestler s book roots of coincidence.

in 2008 published first sci-fi / horror novel, 172 hours on moon, crossover between young adult fiction , adult fiction. novel, dealing return moon in 2012 (2019 in edition), partly homage sci-fi , horror films 1970s , 1980s. darlah awarded 2008 brage prize in category children s literature. rights novel has been sold united states, sweden, denmark, finland, netherlands, germany, faroe islands, turkey, south korea, france, mexico, taiwan , brasil.

plays

harstad playwright, , 4 of works published in 2008 bsider ( b-sides ). in late 2008 harstad hired in-house playwright @ national theatre of norway, first hold such position. during time @ national theatre started working on extensive 2 part play published in 2010 osv. ( etc. ). play, in norwegian edition on 500 pages long, set in 1994 , centers around american family relationship falling apart. father, vietnam war veteran, suffers nervous breakdown more 2 decades after homecoming , moves park @ constitution gardens in washington d.c., next vietnam veterans memorial wall. daughter struggles in london, after loss of husband , son war photographer, covering conflicts in europe , africa. bosnian war, first chechen war , rwandan genocide plays big part in play, both setting , examples of growing conflicts in mid-90 s. play, harstad received, in 2014, norwegian ibsen award. also, nominated brage prize award.

in 2011 harstad oversaw first production of complete memoirs of breadman-trilogy @ black box teater in oslo, theater known focus on modern , contemporary theater. plays mix between comedy, tragedy , absurdism. first part, akapulco, takes place in fictitious swiss village in mexico around 1920-1930. second part, ellis iland set in manhattan between 1906 , 1917 , focus on 2 immigrants, german man called barker , ukrainian man called stoklitsky, struggles make life in city. barker accountant, forced landlady work in new york city sewer hunting alligators while stoklitsky, happens tone deaf, tries compose symphony theremins, containing perfect fifths. trilogy 1 of 3 candidates 2012 norwegian ibsen award.

though no official explanation has been given author, many of geographical names in harstad s plays intentionally misspelled (e.g. washingtin, akapulco, ellis iland, mattrhorn). in memoirs of breadman, references made places such ithalia, mexicoo, u.e.s.a, zyrich, miilano, providense , chikago.

non-fiction

in 2012 harstad published first non-fiction work, blissard - book motorpsycho. book mix between biography of norwegian band motorpsycho , 1996 album blissard, personal account of author s long time relationship band s music , own teenage years. more 140 pages of books total of 330 made footnotes, harstad expands on band trivia, details, digressions, literary detours , personal stories including interviews people affiliated band, poetry, reviews , newspaper clippings.