Kjell Arild Pollestad

Kjell Arild Pollestad

Kjell Arild Pollestad OP (born May 27, 1949 in Hå , Jæren ) is a Norwegian Catholic religious and writer.

Pollestad studied Russian and theology at the University of Oslo . He speaks several languages ​​and is known for his philological knowledge.

In 1975 he converted to the Catholic Church and joined the Dominican Order . In 1980 he was ordained a priest in Oslo. In addition to his own duties, he was pastor of the Catholic parish in Tønsberg for several years .

Just as Father Hallvard Rieber-Mohn made Catholic culture, religious life and ideas accessible to a wide audience in Norway at the time, he follows in the footsteps of his teacher and friend. With essays and chats, often with a cheerful twist in addition to the thought-provoking main topic, he won a large readership and for many Norwegians stands as an image of a tolerant and cheerful Catholicism, with connections both to culturally radical circles on the one hand and to traditionally deep Lutheran circles on the other hand. This decidedly liberal image has made him a controversial person within the Catholic Church in Norway.

As a Catholic author, he follows the epistular tradition by writing pointed letters and reflections on large and small topics in chatty books, often taken from his own life, without a preaching tone, but with a religious aspect in the undertone. In other books there are pure monographs on landscape and culture that interested the author, such as Min Islandsferd (1986), and 17.mai i Samarkand (1988), but which later approach the professed and religious, such as Paven i Rom (1989 ) and Bernadette (2006). In 1990 he received the Cappelenprisen literature prize . He has also translated the Greek national poet Konstantinos Kavafis into Norwegian.

As a herald, author, lecturer and knowledgeable travel guide, and also as one of three moderators (together with Thomas Thiis-Evensen and Jan E. Hansen) of the documentary series Tre muntre herrer i Roma in the NRK , Father Pollestad has apparently found a larger, general audience than ever another Catholic Norwegian clergyman after the Reformation .

Since 2005, Father Pollestad has lived in a Dominican monastery in Paris.

He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Language and Literature .

bibliography

• Lofottorsk på nonnebord , Essays (1984)
• Min Icelandic Horse (1986)
• Skål for Norge (1987)
• May 17th in Samarkand (1988)
• Paven i Rome (1989)
• Veien til Rom - hvordan jeg ble katolikk (1990)
• Maten er halve føda (1991)
• Humørpiller. Muntre epistler i utvalg (1992)
• Father Hilarion (1993)
• Parabolic (1996)
• Therese (1997)
• Veier overalt (1998)
• Live he bedre enn sitt rykte (1999)
• Kirkeliv i north for Svartedauden (2001)
• Translation in poetry, selection and foreword to Konstantinos Kavafis : Siden jeg ikke kan tale om min kjærlighet (2002)
• Donate for free (2002)
• Samtaler med Horats - Dagbok 2000-2004 (2004)