Stein Mehren Norway

Stein Mehren (1935-2017) was a Norwegian poet, essayist and playwright. Mehren was born in Oslo, Norway, and after graduating from secondary school in 1953, Mehren studied philosophy at the University of Oslo for several years. He made his literary debut with the poetry collection Gjennom stillheten en natt in 1960. Other collections from the 1960s are Alene med en himmel (1962), Mot en verden av lys (1963), Gobelin Europa (1965), Tids alder (1966), and Aurora. Det Niende Mørke (1969). He is the author of a number of essay collections and two plays, Narren og hans hertug (1968, staged at National Theatre), and Den store søndagsfrokosten (1976). In the 1970s he wrote two novels, De utydelige (1972) and Titanene. Mehren was the recipient of many prizes: the Norwegian Critics' Prize for Literature and the Mads Wiel Nygaard's Endowment in 1963; the Swedish Academy's Dobloug Prize in 1971; the Aschehoug Prize in 1973; the Riksmål Society Literature Prize in 1975; the Fritt Ord Award in 1979; the Norwegian Academy Prize in memory of Thorleif Dahl in 1987; and the Gyldendal Prize in 2004. In 1993, he was awarded the Anders Jahre Cultural Prize (jointly with pianist Robert Levin).