Thorvald Steen

Who is Thorvald Steen?

Thorvald Steen is a Norwegian writer and government scholar.

He made his literary debut in 1983, and has subsequently published a wide range of novels, plays, collections of poems, books of short stories, children’s books and essays. He has distinguished himself as one of Norway’s leading internationally oriented writers. His Norwegian breakthrough came in 1992 with a cycle of poems, Ilden and shortly afterward he achieved international recognition with his creative historical novels Don Carlos, Giovanni, Constantinople, The Little Horse, Camel Clouds and Lionheart. In 2006 Steen wrote the coming-of-age novel The Weight of Snow Crystals, which was followed in 2008 with the freestanding sequel The Longest Leap.

Steen’s work is translated into more than 20 languages and he has received several literary prizes, both at home and abroad. In 1993 he received Gyldendals legat. The Belgian newspaper Le Soir declared Don Carlos one of the five best novels translated into French in 1996. The newspaper Clarin in Argentina chose Steen as “Best new writer” for Don Carlos the same year. In 2001 he received the Norwegian Dobloug Prize for his entire work.