Writer Arne Svingen was born in Oslo in 1967. He is one of Norway’s most prominent writers for children and young adults. His production spans from easy reads for children, to novels for children and young adults.

He has written several novels for adults, radio plays for NRK (The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) and graphic novels. A large number of Arne Svingens’s books have been sold in many countries internationally, and he has been translated into seventeen languages. He was awarded the Brage Prize for his novel Black Ivory in 2005. His biggest international success has been “The Ballad of a Broken Nose” (2012) translated into fourteen languages.

From „BALLAD OF A BROKEN NOSE“

It doesn’t matter. These things happen.
I’m lying on the floor. A few seconds ago, I was standing on my feet. The world was on an even keel and I actually felt things were going better than they had been for a long time. Some punches always come as a shock.
The room is slopping round the edges and I feel slightly seasick.
‘Are you alright?’ When I nod, it feels like I’m sitting in a washing machine.
‘Can you get up?’ Of course I can get up. Just not right now. All I want to do is lie here. A little bit longer.
‘I didn’t mean to.’ Of course he didn’t mean to hit so hard. Christian flickers in front of
my eyes. As if he was on a badly-tuned TV. I like Christian. I like everyone at the gym. Wouldn’t surprise me if they liked me too.
‘Just give him a bit of time.’
It’s the coach talking. The one who says it’s all about believing you can move mountains. That I can be as good as I want to be. And I believe him when he says it. Even though I don’t necessarily believe it as much in the evening. Or the next morning. Or at school. And perhaps especially not when I’m lying here and feeling sick.
The coach and Christian help me up. I’m standing on my own two feet again.

Translated from Norwegian by Kari Dickson