More Ambjørnsen
In 2000 Ambjørnsen wrote the novel Dronningen sover (The Queen is Asleep). The critics wrote:
»(This) is no less than a delightful portrayal of love. Using straightforward moves, Ambørnsen creates an atmosphere both heart-warming and painful. It is immeasurably sad and immeasurably comforting. At one and the same time. the association with Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf seems clear « Aftenposten
In 2001 he wrote Dukken i taket (The Doll in the Ceiling). In this novel the author makes use of several suspense story devices, but this is first and foremost an intense psychological drama. The short story collection Delvis til stede (Partly Present) was issued in 2003. Ambjørnsen's novel Innocentia Park (2004) takes place in Hamburg. The author describes a middle age estate agent who is about to wind up his business – and his life.
Ambjørnsen has also created the Samson & Roberto series (three titles) for children and the Pelle and Proffen series (nine titles) for youth. In 2005 he wrote the first book in the Fillip Moberg series, Drapene i Barkvik (The Murders in Barkvik), a series about the young man Fillip and his uncle Ernst, who is a crime reporter. The book was very well received by the critics. The follow-up has so far only been published as a down-load edition, and has been at the top of the Norwegian iTunes for several weeks.
Awards
- The Cappelen Prize 1988
- The City of Hamburg Grant
- The City of Lübeck Grant
- The best book for Young Readers of the 1980’s for Døden på Oslo S (Death in Oslo Central Station) 1991
- The Brage Prize 1995 for Fugledansen (The Bird Dance)
- The Booksellers' Prize 1996 for Brødre i blodet (Beyond the Great Indoors)
- Oslo City Cultural Prize 2001.
- Anders Jahre's Cultural Prize 2004.
- The Salvation Army's Booth Prize 2004.
Translations
Sarons ham (Saron's Hide), 1982 | Sold to Germany, Turkey.
Stalins øyne (Stalin's Eyes), 1985 | Sold to Denmark, Germany.
Hvite niggere (White Trash), 1986 | Sold to Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Turkey.
San Sebastian Blues (San Sebastian Blues), 1989 | Sold to Germany, Sweden.
Sorte Mor (Black Mother), 1994 | Sold to Germany.
Den mekaniske kvinnen (The Mechanical Woman), 199 | Sold to Germany.
Jesus står i porten (Jesus Stands at the Gate), 1992 | Sold to Germany.
Utsikt til paradiset (A Vision of Paradise), 1993 | Sold to Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Russia, Korea, Turkey.
Fugledansen (The Bird Dance) 1995 | Sold to Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Lithuania, Iceland, Bulgaria, Korea, Turkey.
Brødre i blodet (Beyond the Great Indoors), 1996 | Sold to Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Sweden, the Netherlands, UK, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Italy, Korea, Turkey, Czech.
Natt til mørk morgen (Night Before a Dark Morning), short stories 1998. Sold to Croatia.
Elsk meg i morgen (Love me tomorrow), 1999 | Sold to Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Korea, Turkey.
Dronningen sover (The Queen is Asleep), 2000 | Sold to Germany, Spain, Lithuania.
Dukken i taket (The Doll in the Ceiling), 2001 | Sold to Germany, Turkey.
Delvis til stede (Partly Present), short stories 2003 | Sold to Yugoslavia.
Innocentia Park (Innocentia Park), 2004 | Sold to Denmark, Germany.
Translations Children's books
Samson & Roberto (Samson & Roberto) series, three titles | Sold to Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Russia, The Faroes, Czech. Pelle og Proffen (Pelle and The Prof) series of nine titles for young readers. Sold to Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Sweden, Turkey.
Drapene i Barkvik (The Murders in Barkvik), 2005 | Sold to Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey.