February 8 and 11, Norwegian poet Knut Ødegård read his poems in Beirut. The poems, chosen from his “Selected Poems”, were read, in addition to Norwegian, in English by Rula Beialbaki and in Arabic by Fuad Rifqa. Rifqa has himself translated “Selected Poems” into Arabic.
Ødegård was born in Molde in 1945 and live partly in Molde and partly in Reykjavik (Iceland). Since his debut in 1967, he has written and published about thirty books, ranging from fact and children’s books to novels and poetry. He is the most widely translated contemporary Norwegian poet. He has received a number of prices and awards.
As a cooperation between his Lebanese publisher (Dar Nelson), the Norwegian Embassy and the Norla (Norwegian Litterature Abroad), readings were held at the German Orient-Institut Monday and City Café Thursday.