Brit Bildøen's SEVEN DAYS IN AUGUST longlisted for 2018 International Dublin Literary Award

November 06, 2017

About the novel:
A few years after the deadly 2011 terror attack in Norway’s Utøya Island, Otto and Sofie are attempting to put the pieces of their life back together without their beloved daughter, who was murdered alongside countless other youths on one of the worst day’s in Norway’s history. Seven Days in August is the story of Otto and Sofie’s grief, painstakingly narrated over just one week—a window into their attempts to navigate a life together, face to face with their own helplessness and mortality.

The week begins with a tick bite on Sofie’s hand, which continues to swell dangerously as the days pass. As her pain intensifies, so too does the marital strife present in a household stricken by grief. Told in award-winning Norwegian writer Brit Bildøen’s signature lyrical prose, the story slowly unfurls the horrors of a national tragedy, while peeling back the layers of sorrow that infect relationships over time

Media praises:
“In a subtle manner, Seven Days in August also reveals how unique works of art can
provide social commentaries about life and existence …”
Bergens Tidende

“sober and masterful”
Dagbladet

“We need novels like this. We need fiction that takes upon itself the worst imaginable nightmares without treading through speculation or sensationalism …”
NRK

“With Seven Days in August, Bildøen has artfully managed to combine contemporary
society’s unconscious eschatological beliefs with the relational tensions between a
married couple in a way that does not feel forced or overtly insidious.”
Dagens Næringsliv

About the author:
Brit Bildøen is a Norwegian author born in Ålesund. In 1992, she debuted with the poetry collection Bilde av menn (Pictures of Men). Since then, she has published children’s books, reinterpretations, novels and essays. Her 1998 novel Tvillingfeber (Twin Fever) won both the Oslo Prize and the Nynorsk Litteratur prizes, and was nominated for the prestigious Brage Prize in Norway. Her next novel, Landfastlykke (Mainland Happiness) won the Melsom Prize and the Sigmund Skard Scholarship. Her novels Alt som er (Everything that Is, 2004) and Mitt milde vesen (My mild being, 2006) and Adam Hiorths veg (Adam Hiorths road, 2011) have all been highly praised, and Bildøen is now viewed as foremost among contemporary Norwegian authors. In 2009, she published the essay collection Litterær salong (Literary Salon) containing readings from, among others, Gertrude Stein, Halldis Moren Vesaas, Amalie Skram, Doris Lessing and Elfriede Jelenik. Bildøen currently lives in Oslo.