Anne Birkefeldt Ragde (born 3 December 1957) is a Norwegian novelist.
Early life and education Ragde was born in Odda, the daughter of photographer Olav Ivarson Ragde and his Danish wife Birte, née Birkefeldt. She moved to Trondheim at the age of four, and attended Strinda gymnas and Trondheim Cathedral School. She took the cand.philol. degree at the University of Trondheim in 1984, and worked as a lecturer there for two and a half years before becoming an advertising copywriter.
Career Ragde made her literary debut in 1986 with the children’s book Hallo! Her er Jo! Since then, she has written several books for children and young adults, among them a biography about Sigrid Undset, for which she was awarded the Brage Prize. Her first novel for adults, En tiger for en engel was published in 1990. She has since written several novels, crime novels and short story collections.
Her novel Berlin Poplars (Berlinerpoplene, 2004), the first in a series about the Neshov family of Byneset near Trondheim, received a warm welcome from both readers and critics. The sequels Hermit Crabs (2005) and Pastures Green (2007) were a no lesser success, and by 2010 the trilogy had sold well over a million copies. The series was later extended with Alltid tilgivelse (2016), Liebhaberne (2017) and Datteren (2019). The English translation of Berlin Poplars by James Anderson was reviewed favourably in The Independent in 2008. The trilogy was adapted both for the stage and as an eight-part television drama series on NRK, and both adaptations were great popular successes. Her books have been translated into more than 20 languages.
Piracy controversy In a December 2010 interview with Dagens Næringsliv, Ragde said that she was losing sleep over illegal downloading of her books, that she had lost more than half a million kroner to piracy, and that she would therefore not allow her new novel to be released as an audiobook. In the same interview it emerged that her iPod held about 1,800 illegally downloaded songs. Law professor Olav Torvund accused her of double standards, and several musicians also criticised her. Ragde said that her remarks had been taken out of context, that her son had put the songs on the iPod several years earlier without her knowledge, and that she agreed that illegal downloading was theft.
Selected bibliography 1986: Hallo! Her er Jo! 1988: Dumme mamma! 1990: En tiger for en engel 1995: Zona Frigida 1997: Bunnforhold 1999: En kald dag i helvete 1999: Lille Petter Edderkopp 2001: Arsenikktårnet 2001: Biografien om Sigrid Undset. Ogsaa en ung Pige 2002: Dr. Zellwegers gave 2003: Fosterstilling 2004: Berlin Poplars (Berlinerpoplene) 2005: Hermit Crabs (Eremittkrepsene) 2005: På bunnen av havet ligger et slott 2007: Pastures Green (Ligge i grønne enger) 2009: Nightwaves (Nattønsket) 2011: Jeg skal gjøre deg så lykkelig 2014: Jeg har et teppe i tusen farger 2016: Alltid tilgivelse 2017: Liebhaberne 2019: Datteren 2021: Hjerteknuseren 2022: Muttra og meg 2024: Hennes siste fantastiske dager
Awards and prizes Brage Prize 2001, for Ogsaa en ung Pige Ministry of Culture's non-fiction prize (Kulturdepartementets fagbokpremie) 2001, for Ogsaa en ung Pige Riksmål Society Literature Prize 2004, for Berlin Poplars Norwegian Booksellers' Prize 2005, for Hermit Crabs The Norwegian Readers' Prize 2005, for Hermit Crabs Trondheim Municipality's culture prize 2005 Årets trønder (Trønder of the Year) 2006, voted by the readers of Adresseavisen
References
External links Anne B. Ragde at Aschehoug Agency Anne B. Ragde at Forlaget Oktober