Olav H. Hauge

During a writing career that spanned nearly fifty years, Olav Hauge earned recognition as “one of the greatest poets in Norwegian literature” (Contemporary Authors) and was a major figure of twentieth-century European poetry. Hauge’s compact, classically restrained poems are sage, plainspoken, and bear a resemblance to Chinese poetry. His work was rooted in his training as a farmer and orchardist, his deep reading in world literatures, and a lifetime of careful attention to the beauties and rigors of the western Norwegian fjord region. His spare imagery and unpretentious tone range from bleak to unabashedly joyous—an intricate interplay between head, heart, and hand.