The Norwegian Writers' Center is an organization of 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...

 poets and fiction writers that encourages interactions among writers and the general public. It is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs

Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs

The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Culture is responsible for cultural policy, regulations and other matters related to the media and sports. The ministry was established in 1982, at which time it was called the Ministry of Cultural and Scientific Affairs. Until then, the Ministry of Church and...

 and promotes literacy through poetry readings, public talks, conferences, presentations in schools, and cultural events. Writers resident in Norway having published at least one work of fiction (novels, poetry and children’s books), are eligible for membership.

The Norwegian Writers' Center was established in 1968 under the initiative of the authors Einar Økland

Einar Økland

Einar Økland is a Norwegian lyricist, playwright, essayist and children's writer.He made his literary debut in 1963, with the poetry collection Ein gul dag. He was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature for the children's book Sikk-sakk...

, Bjørn Nilsen

Bjørn Nilsen

Bjørn Nilsen is a Norwegian poet and television producer. His literary debut was the poetry collection Hvis jeg var trollmann from 1960. He was a member of the editorial board of the literary magazine Profil, a co-founder of The Norwegian Writers' Center , and a leader of the Norwegian Authors'...

 and Tor Obrestad

Tor Obrestad

Tor Obrestad is a Norwegian novelist, poet and documentary writer. He made his literary debut in 1966 with two books, the poetry collection Kollisjon and a collection of short stories, Vind, and received Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris for these two books...

. Today the writer’s center has over 900 author and has offices in 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...

, Bergen, Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 and Tromsø

Tromsø

Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...

. The current leader, resident since 2001 is the author Tom Lotherington

Tom Lotherington

Tom Lotherington is a Norwegian poet, novelist, biographer and translator. He made his literary debut in 1972 with the poetry collection Hverdagsfantasier. He has written the novels Den tredje tjeneren and Kjødets gjerninger , and biographies on the poets Herman Wildenvey and Harald Sverdrup...

.