Per Sivle

Per Sivle was a Norwegian poet, novelist and newspaper editor. He was born in Flåm, a village in the municipality of Aurland in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. His mother died when he was two years old, and he grew up in three different foster homes, mostly with the Brekke family at Brekke farm near Stalheim in Voss municipality. He attended Jakob Sverdrup's folk high school in Sogndal from 1872 to 1874, and then moved to Kristiania (now Oslo) to prepare for the university entrance exam, but had to give up his studies due to health problems. He became a self-taught writer and journalist, and worked as the editor of Buskeruds Amtstidende (1883–84) and Kristianiaposten (1887–91). He published 15 books in various genres, including poetry, short stories, novels, and essays. He married Wenche von der Lippe Nilsen, a women's rights activist, in 1887, and they had one daughter, Sussi. He suffered from depression and financial difficulties, and committed suicide at Kristiania Bad in 1904. He is buried at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo. Per Sivle's literary works are characterized by a strong national and social commitment, as well as a personal and lyrical tone. He wrote both in Bokmål and Nynorsk, and was one of the pioneers of the latter. He is best known for his novel Streik (1891), which depicts a workers' strike in a paper mill, and for his collections of stories issued between 1887 and 1895, Sogor (includes the story "Berre ein Hund"), Vossa-Stubba, Nye Vossa-stubbar and Sivle-Stubbar. These stories are mainly set in rural Norway, and portray the lives and struggles of ordinary people, especially children, with humor and realism. He also wrote patriotic and religious poems, such as "Vi vil os et land", "Tord Foleson" and "Mor sin song ved Vogga". He was a co-founder of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights, and a supporter of the Norwegian language movement and the Norwegian independence movement. He is regarded as one of the most popular and influential Norwegian writers of his time.