Simen Skjønsberg was a Norwegian journalist and writer.

He was born in Øyer

Øyer

Øyer is a municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tingberg....

, and graduated as cand.mag.

Cand.mag.

Candidatus magisterii , Candidata magisterii , i.e. Latin Candidate of Arts, abbreviated cand.mag., is an academic degree used in Denmark, and formerly in Norway and Iceland, roughly corresponding to an American Master of Arts and officially translated as such...

 in 1950. He was hired as a journalist in Dagbladet

Dagbladet

Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....

in 1954, and was its cultural editor from 1959 to 1978.

He published several novels, including Der bommene senkes (1971), Fuglebrettet (1973), Gitter i lyset (1975) and Ingen friplass på karusellen (1977). He also wrote poetry, his collections including Vi er blitt fremmede (1965), Flyttedag (1969), I realismesalen (1984) and Grensevakter (1987). He 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 1970 and the Gyldendal's Endowment

Gyldendal's Endowment

Gyldendal's Endowment was a literature prize which was awarded in the period 1934–1995 by the Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The prize was awarded to significant authors, regardless of which publisher the author was associated with...

in 1984.