Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre was a close friend of the author.
”Roy Jacobsen was one of the great storytellers in Norwegian literature. In his books, we meet the coast, the working class, the war – but above all, the human being”, he says in a statement to Norwegian media.
Since his debut in 1982, over 25 books by Jacobsen have been published, which have been translated into over 40 languages. Among the books are ”The Unworthy”, ”White Sea” and ”The Invisible”.
Roy Jacobsen has received a long list of awards for his books, including the Ivar Lo Prize for ”The Conquerors” in 1994. He was also nominated for the international Booker Prize in 2017 for his novel ”The Invisible”.
”Roy was a storyteller of the rarest kind, an exquisite stylist, enormously knowledgeable and with a heart for the translated and forgotten aspects of our history. Not least, his burning interest in Northern Norway”, writes John Erik Riley, editor-in-chief for Norwegian fiction at the publisher Cappelen Damm, in a press release.
Roy Jacobsen passed away after a period of heart disease, 70 years old.
