North in the World: Selected Poems

North in the World presents 121 poems by Rolf Jacobsen (1907-1994), one of Norway's greatest modern poets. Garnering the highest praise of critics, Jacobsen won many of Norway's and Sweden's most prestigious literary awards, including the Swedish Academy's Dobloug Prize and the Grand Nordic Prize, also known as the "Little Nobel." But he also has earned a wide popular audience, because ordinary readers can understand and enjoy the way he explores the complex counterpoint of nature and technology, progress and self-destruction, daily life and cosmic wonder.

Drawing from all twelve of his books, and including one poem collected posthumously, North in the World offers award-winning English translations of Jacobsen's poems, accompanied by the original Norwegian texts. The translator, the American poet Roger Greenwald, worked with Jacobsen himself to correct errors that had crept into the Norwegian texts over the years. An in-depth introduction by Greenwald highlights the main features of Jacobsen's poetry, and extensive endnotes, as well as indexes to titles and first lines in both languages, enhance the usefulness of the book for general readers and scholars alike. The result is the definitive bilingual edition of Jacobsen's marvelous poetry.

Rolf Jacobsen (1907 1994) published twelve books of poetry and six collections; his work has been translated into more than twenty languages. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Language and Literature and was awarded the Norwegian Critics’ Prize (1960), the Aschehoug Prize (1986), the Dobloug Prize (1968), and the Grand Nordic Prize (1989).

Roger Greenwald is the author of one book of poems, Connecting Flight, and the translator of several works from Scandinavian languages, including The Silence Afterwards: Selected Poems of Rolf Jacobsen; Through Naked Branches: Selected Poems of Tarjei Vesaas; and A Story about Mr. Silberstein, by Erland Josephson. He is the recipient of the CBC Radio/Saturday Night Literary Award for poetry, as well as of numerous translation prizes

Roger Greenwald is the author of two books of poems, Connecting Flight and Slow Mountain Train, and the translator of several works from Scandinavian languages, including Guarding the Air: Selected Poems of Gunnar Harding. He is the recipient of the CBC Radio/Saturday Night Literary Award for poetry, as well as of numerous translation prizes.