Gunnar Staalesen

Gunnar Staalesen (born 19 October 1947) is a Norwegian writer.

He is a major figure in the Nordic noir crime fiction genre through his 19 novels featuring Varg Veum, a private detective in Bergen on the rainy west coast of Norway.

The Varg Veum series has been praised as one of the best in modern crime fiction, and Staalesen has sold more than 5 million books in 26 countries.

Staalesen is also a screenwriter and a playwright who has worked extensively with Den Nationale Scene, the largest theatre in Bergen.

Staalesen was born in Bergen, where he has lived his entire life.

His parents were an educator and a nurse, and he grew up mostly in the Nordnes neighbourhood.

A bookworm from childhood, he credits his initial interest in crime fiction to reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books as a teenager.

Staalesen was also inspired by the juxtaposition of crime fiction and social realism in the Martin Beck series published from 1965 to 1976 by Swedish writers Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö.

Veum’s physical appearance is almost never mentioned in the books, but Staalesen chose the character’s name to emphasize the private eye’s lone wolf status in society.

In the Old Norse language, the phrase “Varg Veum” translates literally to “wolf in a sanctuary,” meaning a person that is made an outlaw.

Staalesen’s crime novels frequently examine social injustices illuminated by Veum through his detective work.

The series has been praised for its intricate plots, atmospheric evocation of the Norwegian settings and clever interpretations of the classic detective novel form, leading some reviewers to call Staalesen “the godfather of Norwegian noir.”

After Staalesen failed to sell a collection of poems and a novel as a teenager, he published his first novel, Times of Innocence, in 1969.

Staalesen married his wife, Ellen-Karin Kristiansen, in 1969, and they are grandparents.

Staalesen has written 19 novels and two short story collections with Veum as the main character.

Veum also has appeared in additional short stories, screenplays, graphic novels and radio plays.

Staalesen earned a degree in language and literary studies from the University of Bergen in 1976, studying French and English while also working as a journalist, a film critic and a press secretary at Den Nationale Scene.

He published three additional novels, including the first two books in a series of crime novels starring two Bergen police officers, before he introduced Varg Veum in 1977 in the novel “Bukken til havresekken.”

Staalesen was inspired to create Veum, a social worker turned private detective, as an experiment in placing the classic detective archetype of American literature in modern-day Bergen.

Veum was particularly influenced by Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, Ross MacDonald’s Lew Archer and Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade.

In 1997, Staalesen stepped away from crime fiction and published three historical novels examining Bergen across the 20th century.

Staalesen considers the Bergen Trilogy to be his best work.

Varg Veum makes an appearance in the third novel of the trilogy.

Staalesen has written a standalone sequel to the Bergen Trilogy, titled "2020 Post Festum," which was published on 15 October 2021.

Staalesen’s novels have been adapted for cinema, television, radio and the stage.

Twelve films based on the Veum series were made between 2007 and 2012, all starring Trond Espen Seim.