Bjørn Sortland: Norway ★ Author

Bjørn Sortland (born 1968) spent his childhood years in the small town of Sortland on the island of Bømlo. (Sortland has since changed its name to Svortland, a change the author has not forgiven them for yet!) He originally trained as a social worker and worked in that field for several years before taking a writing course in the town where he was born, Bergen. As a result of that course, Sortland published Det er ikkje natta [It’s Not Nighttime] (1992) followed a year later by Raudt, Blått og Litt Gult [Red, Blue and a Little Bit Yellow], which was illustrated by Lars Ellings. It was this second book, with its playful introduction to art history, that drew critics’ attention, and since 1998 he has been working fulltime as an author. In addition to writing picture book texts and novels for children, Sortland has also written for radio, television, and books for adults. Much of his work has been anthologized.

Sortland’s background in social work is evident in his portrayal of characters who feel isolated from the society around them. Many of his characters are lonely individuals, although the focus of his stories is rarely the traditional fodder of the “problem” novel. His child characters may be the children of divorced parents, for example, but the narratives tend to focus on other matters. Sortland is a committed Christian, and his beliefs and value system are also evident in many of his works.

The linking element between all of Sortland’s work is his love of art. His early collaborations with Lars Ellings in Raudt, Blått og Litt Gult [Red, Blue and a Little Bit Yellow] and 24 i sekundet [24 by the Second] literally take the child reader into the worlds of fine art and classic film. In the former, Oda visits an art gallery with her Uncle Paul. Somewhat bored by the adults’ talk, Oda wanders off in search of the toilets and on her way she meets several famous artists including Matisse and van Gogh and enters well known paintings by Dali and Cézanne, among others. In the latter, Oda’s brother Henry is sent up into Uncle Paul’s loft in search of a gift. The gift is a toboggan, the one Citizen Kane longed for in the classic film from 1941.

A more lighthearted approach to art is found in Sortland’s commercially successful Kunstdetektivene [The Art Detectives] series, which currently encompass 11 books. In these stories, a Norwegian family travels to various locations around the world that are known for their artwork. Sortland enjoys visiting schools and often encourages children to write their own art detective stories as a follow up to one of his visits.