Halldis Moren Vesaas

Halldis Moren Vesaas

Halldis Moren Vesaas (born November 18, 1907 in Trysil ; † September 8, 1995 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian writer who has emerged primarily as a poet .

Life

origin

Vesaas was born in 1907 as the daughter of the writer Sven Moren (1871-1938) and Gudrid Breie (1880-1963) in Trysil . She grew up in an agricultural environment in Eastern Norway. Vesaas completed her teacher training in 1928, which she only needed briefly between 1941 and 1943 when she was employed at the elementary school in Vinje . After finishing her time at the teachers' school in Elverum , she started working as an office clerk in Oslo , where she met young artists such as Kai Fjell . Vesaas left Norway to work as a secretary at the Norwegian representation in Switzerland from 1930 to 1933 . During her stay, she learned French and began to study European literature. In 1934 she married the writer Tarjei Vesaas .

First publications

In 1929 she published her debut, the collection of poems Harpe og dolk , which was characterized by the joy of life. Vesaas is generally considered to be the first Norwegian female poet, since women published books of poetry before her, but they were mainly active in different literary genres . In addition, she wrote her love poems - unusual for her time - in such a way that women did not serve as objects for the love of men, but were the loving persons. In the following year, Vesaas published a new volume of poetry, Morgonen . However, she later no longer liked some of the works from it, which is why she no longer wanted them to be performed. In 1935 and 1938 she published the children's books Du får gjera det du and Den grøne Had.

After 1945

After the end of the Second World War , her poems were no longer characterized by the joy of life as they were in their early days. In addition, her poems were free of rhymes more often. In 1949 she published the youth novel Tidleg på våren , which had a higher circulation than her previous children's books and was translated into different languages. She received a prize for the best children's book from the Norwegian Ministry of Churches.

Vesaas received several commissions in the post-war period to recreate stage classics for the Det Norske Samlaget publishing house and the Det Norske Teatret theater in Oslo . For example, she wrote new versions for Romeo and Juliet and Phèdre . For the latter, she received the Bastian Prize in 1961 , which is awarded annually for outstanding translations.

In addition to the poems, Vesaas also wrote prose works . In 1951 she published the biography Sven Moren og heimen hans , in which she described the life of her father. In 1974 and 1976 she published books in which she wrote about life with her husband Tarjei Vesaas, who had died in 1970: I Midtbøs bakkar and Båten om dagen . A few years after Tarjei Vesaa's death, she began a relationship with actor Gisle Straume .

Membership in organizations

Vesaas sat from 1952 to 1967 in Norsk språknemnd , whose task it was to draft guidelines to approximate the two Norwegian written languages Bokmål and Nynorsk in spelling and terminology . Between 1949 and 1969 she was a member of the board of the Oslo Riksteatret . She was also on the board of the Norwegian Cultural Council from 1965 to 1973.

Awards

• 1960: Dobloug prizes
• 1961: Bastianprisen
• 1984: Order of Saint Olav (Commander)
• 1994: Brageprisens hederspris

Works (selection)

Vesaas wrote her works in the rarer of the two Norwegian written languages , namely nynorsk .

Poetry

• 1929: Harpe and dolk
• 1930: Morgons
• 1933: Strender
• 1936: Lykkelegender
• 1945: I Tung tids tale
• 1947: Treet
• 1955: I an annan skog
• 1995: Livshus

Books for children and young readers

• 1935: You får gjera det du
• 1938: Had the green one
• 1942: Hildegunn
• 1949: Tidleg på våren

Further

• 1951: Sven Moren og heimen hans (biography)
• 1974: I Midtbøs bakkar (memoirs)
• 1976: Båten om dagen (Memoirs)

Web links

• Halldis Moren Vesaas in Norsk biografisk leksikon (Norwegian)
• Halldis Moren Vesaas in the store norske leksikon (Norwegian)
• Halldis Moren Vesaas at NRK (Norwegian)