Alfred Hauge
Alfred Hauge (17 October 1915 – 31 October 1986) was a Norwegian novelist, poet and historian. Hauge wrote extensively about life on the Ryfylke islands and about Norwegian-American emigration.
Biography
Hauge was born and grew up on the island of Kyrkjøy in Sjernarøy, part of Finnøy municipality in Rogaland County, Norway.
Hauge is best known for describing the life and adventures of Cleng Peerson, a pioneer Norwegian immigrant to the United States in the 1820s. His trilogy included: Hundevakt (1961; "Midwatch”), Landkjenning (1964; "Land Sighting"), and Ankerfeste (1965; “Anchoring”). This collected work was published as Cleng Peerson in Norway during 1968. An English-language version was translated by Eric J. Friis and published under the same title during 1975. This publication was released as one of the official publications of the Norwegian Immigration Sesquicentennial.
Hauge received numerous literary awards during his career. In 1955, Hauge won the Gyldendal's Endowment, a literature prize which was awarded by the Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. In recognition of his work he was also awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1965.
A memorial to Hauge has been erected on Kyrkjøy at Sjernarøy church (Norwegian: Sjernarøy kirke), an historic wooden church which dates to 1636. Composer Hallvard Johnsen wrote an opera based upon Alfred Hauge's Legenden om Svein og Maria. The opera was first performed on 3 September 1973 by The Norwegian Opera and Ballet (Norwegian: Den Norske Opera & Ballet) in Oslo.
Selected works
- Septemberfrost: eit folkelivsbilete frå åra 1812-14 (1941)
- Skyer i drift over vårgrønt land (1945); collection of poetry
- Hans Nielsen Hauge: Guds vandringsmann (1947)
- Tuntreet blør (1953); novel
- Kvinner på Galgebakken (1958); novel
- Cleng Peerson: hundevakt (1961) novel (Part I of Cleng Peerson-trilogy)
- Cleng Peerson: landkjenning (1961) novel (Part II of Cleng Peerson-trilogy)
- Gå vest - gjennom Amerika i emigrantspor (1963) A travel sketch illustrated by Henry Imsland
- Cleng Peerson: ankerfeste. (1965) (Part III of Cleng Peerson-trilogy)
- Mysterium (1967) novel
- Cleng Peerson: utvandring (1968) drama written in collaboration with Asbjørn Toms.
- Det evige sekund (1970) collection of poetry
- Evangelium (1977) collection of poetry
- Barndom (1975) personal recollections
- Ungdom (1977) personal recollections
- Flinta-Lars: det gamle Jæren i tradisjon og folkeminne (1985) folk memories
- Gamle Jæren: andre boka om tradisjon og folkeminne etter Lars A. Tjøtta (1986) folk memories
- Manndom. Livsminne (1999), manuscript published postmortem by Alfred Hauge’s family in cooperation with the publisher Gyldendal
Awards
- Melsom Prize 1949
- Gyldendal's Endowment 1955
- Sunnmørsprisen 1958, for Kvinner på Galgebakken
- Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature 1965, for the trilogy about Cleng Peerson
- Sokneprest Alfred Andersson-Ryssts fond 1974
- Nynorsk Literature Prize 1984, for Serafen
References and notes
- Pedersen, Odd Kvaal: Gråstein og lengsel : peilinger i Alfred Hauges tema og litterære landskap, Oslo 1985. ISBN 82-05-16409-6
- Sørbø, Jan Inge: Angen av bork og ein brennande einerbusk. Om Alfred Hauges forfattarskap, Oslo 2001. ISBN 82-05-29137-3
- Aano, Jacob: Helsing Alfred : eit blikk på norsk kultur gjennom Alfred Hauge sine brev, Oslo 2000. ISBN 82-476-0159-1
