Økland, Einar 1940–

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Økland, Einar 1940–

(Einar Andreas Økland, Einar Okland)

PERSONAL:

Born January 17, 1940, in Valestrand (some sources cite Sveio), Norway; son of Bernt Martin and Sigrun Økland; married Liv Marit Nordbö, July 13, 1963; children: Siri, Ask. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: University of Oslo, Ph.D., 1965.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Valevåg, Norway; fax: +47-5374-2413.

CAREER:

Rönvik Psyk., Bodö, Norway, clinical psychologist, 1965-66; University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, teacher of psychology, 1966; freelance writer, Valevaag, Norway, 1967—. Det Norske Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), publisher's head advisor, 1985—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Grants from Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Norwegian Society of Authors; awards for children's books; Norwegian Society of Literary Critics' Prize, 1978; Aschehoug Prize, 1988; Dobloug Prize, 2000; Samlags prisen, 2000; Kari Skjönsbergs pris, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Ein gul dag (poetry), Cappelen (Oslo, Norway), 1963.

Mandragora (poetry), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1966.

Svart i det grøne (short stories), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1967.

Vandreduene: Lyriske stykke, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1968.

(With Dag Solstad) Georg: Sit du Godt?, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1968.

(Editor, with Paal-Helge Haugen and Tor Obrestad) Moderne prosa: Arbeidsbok frå eit literaturseminar, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1968.

Amatør-album: Lyrisk landskaps roman med figurar (novel; title means "An Amateur's Album"), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1969.

Aberfan, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1969.

Galskap: Underholdningsroman (novel; title means "Madness"), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1971.

Gull-alder: Lyrikk—prosa—dramatikk (novel; title means "A Golden Age"), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1972.

Stille stunder: Manns gaman, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1974.

Det blir alvor (short stories), illustrated by Kari Bøge, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1974.

Bronsehesten: Folkeminne (poetry; title means "The Bronze Horse"), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1975.

(Editor, with Olav Angell and Jan Erik Vold) Jazz i Norge, Gyldendal (Oslo, Norway), 1975.

Kven veit? Seint i April, tidleg i mai: Forteljing, illustrated by Kari Bøge, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1976.

Statsministerens sko, og andre tekster, Norske bokklubben (Oslo, Norway), 1976.

Ingenting meir, illustrated by Finn Graff, Pax (Oslo, Norway), 1976.

Snakk med dr. Ost, illustrated by Kari Bøge, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1977.

På frifot: Blanda vers (poetry), illustrated by Oddvar Torsheim, Gyldendal (Oslo, Norway), 1978.

Romantikk: Folkeminne (poetry; title means "Nostalgia"), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1979.

Skrive frukter: Epistlar, artiklar, småstykke frå norsk litteratur, 1963-1978 (essays; title means "Fruits of Writing"), Gyldendal (Oslo, Norway), 1979.

Ein god dag (juvenile), illustrated by Wenche Øyen, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1979.

Ei ny tid (juvenile), illustrated by Wenche Øyen, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1981.

(Editor) Høydepunkt (juvenile), Volume 1: Egne tekster utvalgt og kommentart av 34 norske forfattere, Tiden (Oslo, Norway), 1981.

Fra Aksel Sandemose til Sigurd Evensmo, Gyldendal (Oslo, Norway), 1981.

Snøsteinen, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1982.

Nå igjen: Artiklar, comentariar, innlegg, intervju o.a. (essays; title means "Once More"), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1982.

Egg til alle (juvenile), illustrated by Jonj Stroem, Aschehoug (Oslo, Norway), 1982.

Her er ingen papegøye: Ei sann historie frå Bergen, illustrated by Bernard Stoltz, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1984.

Blå roser: Folkeminne (poetry; title means "Blue Roses"), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1985.

Mellom himmel og jord: Vers vrette og vrange, illustrated by Bernard Stoltz, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1986.

(With Jorunn Veiteberg) Reklamebildet: Norske annonsar og plakatar frå århundreskriftet til i dag, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1986.

Walkman: Tolv dagar musikk, illustrated by Wenche Øyen, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1986.

Mange års røynsle med pil og boge: 99 dikt (poetry), with recording of readings by the author, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1988.

Brev merke på norsk post: Eit utval av reklamemerke, julemerke, propaganda, utstillingsmerke o.a., Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1988.

Måne over Valestrand: Essays og epistlar, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1989.

Per Krohg som illustratør: Eit utval henta frå bøker, tidsskrift, plakatar, annonsar, notar, postkort o.a., Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1989.

Når ikkje anna er sagt: Folkeminne (poetry), illustrated by Bernard Stoltz, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1991.

Siste time: Ni ulike historier, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1992.

I staden for roman eller humor: Essay, artiklar, epistlar, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1993.

Dikt i samling, 1963-1993 (poetry), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1993.

Heile tida heile tida (poetry), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1994.

(Editor and author of foreword) Elias Blix' beste, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1995.

Norske bokomslag, 1880-1980, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1996.

Frå helling via hylling til halling: Essay, artiklar, epistlar, Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1997.

Suarte norske (poetry), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1997.

Etter Brancusi: Nye dikt (poetry), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 1999.

(With Holger Koefoed) Th. Kittelsen: Kjente og ukjente sider ved kunstneren, Stenersen (Oslo, Norway), 1999.

I tilfelle nokon spør (essays, articles, letters, and other prose), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 2001.

Poetiske gleder (poetry), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 2003.

Den blanke bjølla (short stories), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 2005.

Krattet på badet (poetry), Samlaget (Oslo, Norway), 2006.

Other writings include Du er så rar, 1973; Den blå ringen, 1975; Slik er det, 1975; Sikk-sakk, 1978; and Dikt i utval, 2002. Work represented in anthologies. Contributor to periodicals. Affiliated with the periodical Profil in the 1960s and with the literary journal Basar.

SIDELIGHTS:

Einar Økland once told CA: "Because I have never divorced, never driven a car, never practiced any form of sport or gymnastics, I have lived a healthy and successful life with plenty of peace and quiet here on my small farm on the western coast of Norway and [in] a lot of travels in Norway and abroad. I consider myself a poet. My lifelong interests—apart from family, friends, and books—are fishing, cooking, jazz music, and graphic arts. I struggle to keep my amateur status whatsoever I do."

More recently he added: "My father died when I was seven and I felt lonely, alienated, and miserable for many years afterward. But I was already a passionate reader by then and expanded my reading whenever possible. Much of my motivation for writing stems from these circumstances. Among my recognizable influences I dare mention ordinary people's way of talking, the Bible, the poetry of William Butler Yeats, Berthold Brecht, Pablo Neruda, H. Martinson.

"My writing process: spontaneity first, then storing, inspection, editing, and rewriting. Most of my writing has been done between breakfast and lunch.

"A lot of my inspirations come from being asked to write a contribution for a magazine, a yearbook, an anthology, or a special occasion. I love to honor unexpected, crazy requests that should not have been made. When choosing my own subjects I do so with minimal insight and with no other motivating force than curiosity or longing.

"In 1968 I discovered that I did not want to be self-centered and to ‘express myself,’ so I stopped that—and still my writings could be personal and engaging. I prefer nonfiction to fiction, and in 1974 I wrote my last novel. Those are the most prominent changes to my writings. I never sought to find my own style or my own voice. Instead of narrowing my approach I always liked to fan out in different forms, formats, themes, moods. I go for variations and differences in my writing because I consider both my readers and myself to be basically rich and multi-faceted."