Triztán Vindtorn born Kjell Erik Larsen, was a Norwegian poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and performance artist from Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

. He made his literary debut with the poetry collection Sentrifuge in 1970.

His latest collections were Jeg kan høre din hånd synge (I can hear your hand sing, 2007), and Sirkus for usynlige elefanter (Circus for invisible elephants, 2008).

Personal life

Kjell Erik Larsen's parents were cabinetmaker Asle Larsen and Åse Hafnor Kristiansen. He was married twice, first to Mona Kari Svendsrud and later to Britt Undis Knudsen. He changed his last name to Vindtorn, and signed his first books Kjell Erik Vindtorn. In 1999 he changed his first name to Triztán, after the name of a favorite pub at Ibiza

Ibiza

Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...

, where he lived periodically.

Professional life

Vindtorn was a sailor from 1961 to 1962. He was educated as textile engineer, and worked in this profession from 1969 to 1970. He worked as a light technician at 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...

 from 1969 to 1972, and at Oslo Nye Teater

Oslo Nye Teater

Oslo Nye Teater in Oslo is one of Norway's most visited theatres.The theatre opened in 1959 as a merge between Det Nye Teater and Folketeatret, and consists of four stages; Oslo Nye Hovedscenen, Oslo Nye Centralteatret, Oslo Nye Trikkestallen and Oslo Nye Caféscenen.-External links:*...

 from 1971 to 1981. From his literary debut in 1970 he issued almost thirty collections of poetry, all with eccentric titles. His poetry and performances were influenced by futurism

Futurism

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century.Futurism or futurist may refer to:* Afrofuturism, an African-American and African diaspora subculture* Cubo-Futurism* Ego-Futurism...

, dadaism, surrealism

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

, expressionism

Expressionism

Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...

 and pop art

Pop art

Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid 1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist's use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of fine art...

. He was regarded as one of Norway's most distinctive poets. His poetry is full of figurative language, pun

Pun

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...

s and neologisms. In a lengthy article in the literary magazine Vinduet in 1978 Arild Linneberg

Arild Linneberg

Arild Linneberg is a Norwegian researcher of literature, literary critic, essayist and translator.He was born in Oslo, and is a dr.philos. by education. He became a lecturer at the University of Bergen in 1985, and was promoted to professor in 1992...

 analyses the reception of Vindtorn's first seven poetry collections by the literary critic. He starts by stating that Vindtorn has been called the only real surrealist among the contemporary Norwegian poets, and later in the article he also gives a detailed analysis of the poem "Kystline" ("Shoreline") from Versjoner i feberpels (Versions in fever pelt, 1975).

As a performance artist Vindtorn performed at the Molde International Jazz Festival

Moldejazz

Molde International Jazz Festival takes place annually in July, and is known as one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe. It was initiated by the local Storyville Jazz Club...

, Vossajazz and the Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival

Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...

. In the visual arts

Visual arts

The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...

 he created works using screen-printing

Screen-printing

Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate...

 technique.

He was a board member of Oslo Nye Teater

Oslo Nye Teater

Oslo Nye Teater in Oslo is one of Norway's most visited theatres.The theatre opened in 1959 as a merge between Det Nye Teater and Folketeatret, and consists of four stages; Oslo Nye Hovedscenen, Oslo Nye Centralteatret, Oslo Nye Trikkestallen and Oslo Nye Caféscenen.-External links:*...

, and the Norwegian Authors' Union

Norwegian Authors' Union

The Norwegian Authors' Union is an association of Norwegian authors. It was established in 1893 to promote Norwegian literature and protect Norwegian authors' professional and economic interests. DnF also works in solidarity with persecuted writers internationally.As of 2004 the association had...

.

Vindtorn was awarded the Aschehoug Prize

Aschehoug Prize

The Aschehoug Prize is published annually by the Norwegian publishing house Aschehoug. The Aschehoug Prize is awarded Norwegian authors on the basis of the merit of a recent publication. It is awarded on merit, irrespective of the publisher, base on a binding recommendation from the Norwegian...

 in 1982, and the Dobloug Prize

Dobloug Prize

The Dobloug Prize is a literature prize awarded for Swedish and Norwegian fiction. The prize is named after Norwegian businessman and philanthropist Birger Dobloug pursuant to his bequest. The prize sum is . The Dobloug Prize is awarded annually by the Swedish Academy.-Prize winners:...

in 1991.

Selected works

• 1970 Sentrifuge
• 1973 Med solbriller i tunnelen
• 1974 Froskemannskoret
• 1975 Versjoner i feberpels
• 1976 Barbeinte skyskrapere
• 1977 Koden til muskelskapet
• 1978 Hamrende vaffelhjerter
• 1979 Huset gråt mye som barn
• 1980 Trafikklys for elver
• 1981 I vingenes fotspor
• 1983 Vokt Dem for huden
• 1984 Duften av kompassroser
• 1988 Det nedbrente luftslott
• 1990 Til deg som søv burt dine draumar
• 1991 Vindblomster fra den innerste esken
• 1992 Hvit hegre over silkeveien
• 1993 Som sunket i orda
• 1994 Dannebrog i mitt langbente hjerte
• 1996 Mellom barken og verden
• 1998 Hodet er den eneste trekronen som vokser inn i himmelen
• 2003 Å skjøte en regnbue
• 2005 Skriften bak speilet
• 2006 Slik trær føder barn
• 2007 Jeg kan høre din hånd synge
• 2008 Sirkus for usynlige elefanter