Halldis Moren Vesaas was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 poet, translator and writer of children's books. She established herself as one of the leading female Norwegian writer of her generation.

Biography

She was born on a family farm near Trysil

Trysil

Trysil is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Innbygda...

 in Hedmark

Hedmark

is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Akershus. The county administration is in Hamar.Hedmark makes up the northeastern part of Østlandet, the southeastern part of the country. It includes a long part of the borderline with Sweden, Dalarna County and Värmland County. The...

 county, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Her father was the Norwegian story writer, poet, and playwright, Sven Moren

Sven Moren

Sven Moren was a Norwegian farmer, poet, story writer, playwright, children's writer, organizer and local politician.-Personal life:...

. She was the eldest and only girl in a family of five children. She attended the teacher college in Elverum

Elverum

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Elverum...

 1925-1928, and then held various jobs in Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

 and Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. In 1930 she moved to Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, where she worked for three years as secretary. In April 1934, she married the Norwegian author, Tarjei Vesaas (1897-1970). They settled on the Midtbø farm in Vinje

Vinje

Vinje is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Åmot.-Name:...

 in Telemark

Telemark

is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...

 County where her husband worked as a teacher (1941-43).

She debuted in 1929 at 22 years old with a collection of poetry, Harp and Dagger (Harpe og dolk). Her more notable books of poetry would include Speech of Troubled Times (Tung tids tale), The Tree (Treet), In a Different Forest (I ein annan skog) and House of Life (Livshus). She composed and translated for the theater, especially Det Norske Teatret

Det Norske Teatret

Det Norske Teatret is a theatre in Oslo. The theatre was founded in 1912, after an initiative from Hulda Garborg and Edvard Drabløs. It opened in 1913, touring with two plays, Ervingen by Ivar Aasen and Rationelt Fjøsstell by Hulda Garborg...

 in Oslo, wrote articles on various topics and was an external publishing consultant. She sat on the board of the Riksteatret

Riksteatret

Riksteatret is a Norwegian touring theatre. It was established by law in 1948. Its first performance was in Kirkenes in 1949, with Sigurd Christiansen's play En reise i natten. The theatre plays on about 200 different stages throughout the country. Its first theatre director was Fritz von der...

  (1949-1969). In 1938, her first children's book translation was published. Her writing won great acclaim in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 for her brave and personal expressions of women's life in its several stages: youth, marriage, motherhood, widowhood and second love in old age.

She was awarded the Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment

Mads Wiel Nygaards Endowment

Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment is an annually awarded literary prize from the publishing house Aschehoug. The prize is a recognition of superior literary work. The publisher's editorial management makes the award based on their collective judgement of merit. Applications are not accepted.The...

 in 1977. She was appointed Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1984. She was also a Knight of the National Order of Merit, France's second-highest order.

Poetry

• Harpe og dolk, 1929
• Morgonen, 1930
• Strender, 1933
• Lykkelege hender, 1936
• Tung tids tale, 1945
• Treet, 1947
• I ein annan skog, 1955
• Livshus, 1995

Children's books

• Du får gjera det du, 1935
• Den grøne hatten, 1938
• Hildegunn, 1942
• Tidleg på våren, 1949

Other sources

• Garton, Janet ( 2002) Norwegian Women's Writing 1850-1990 (Women in Context)(The Athlone Press) ISBN 978-0485920017