Dag Solstad
Dag Solstad is one of the most recognized Norwegian writers of our time. His debut was in 1965 with the short story collection "Spiraler" (Spirals). His first novel, "Irr! Grønt!", was published four years later. His books have been translated into 30 different languages.
He has won a number of awards, which include the Norwegian critics award three times and also being considered for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in Great Britain three times.
“And so, when the chips are down, I must say, though not without a sense of repugnance, that if you wish to show your belief in democracy, you also have to do so when you are in the minority, convinced both intellectually and, not least, in your innermost self, that the majority, in the name of democracy, is crushing everything you stand for and that means something to you, indeed, all that gives you the strength to endure, well, that gives a kind of meaning to your life, something that transcends your own fortuitous lot, one might say. When the heralds of democracy roar, triumphantly bawling out their vulgar victories day after day so that it really makes you suffer, as in my own case, you still have to accept it; I will not let anything else be said about me, he thought.”
Dag Solstad