Peter Egge

Early life

Peter Egge was born in Trondheim, Norway. He was the second eldest in a family of nine children born to a couple from Nord-Trøndelag. Summer holidays were often spent with relatives in the rural countryside . His writings would later commonly focus on Trondheim, and feature the rural customs of the traditional district of Innherred where he spent his childhood and adolescence.

Career

Egge attended the Trondheim Cathedral School, from which he graduated in 1887. Egge made his literary debut with the novel Almue (1891). He later started his job as a journalist with Trondheim-based newspaper, Dagsposten. In the following years he divided his time between journalism and authorship. He frequently wrote comedies, a genre in which he enjoyed success. This venture in comedy started with The Gift (1897) and included several other works. Egge also wrote serious plays. His Love And Friendships (1905) is a fine example of his serious-themed writing. Egge continued this swaying both toward comedy and serious plays throughout his career. Some of the best works of this period of his career were Virgin Nelly Maartens (1897), Old Holm (1899) and Heart (1907).

Beginning in the early 1920s, Egge began to depart from the image of a writer of comedies and romantic tales. The Holy Sea, which was published in 1922, marked his metamorphosis from a somewhat romantic writer into a neo-realistic one. His style became heavily descriptive. It was this shift in style that gradually led to Hansine Solstad (1925), which is regarded as his best work.

He served as chairman of the Norwegian Authors' Union (Den Norske Forfatterforening) from 1913 to 1916 and 1935 and was chairman of the literary advice committee in 1920 and 1929.

Personal life

In 1897, he married Anna Marie Svensen and settled in Christiania, now Oslo. He was the father of Norwegian politician and resistance member, Ørnulf Egge.

Awards