The Norwegian writer Kjell Askildsen has died at the age of 91, the Norwegian publishing house Oktober announced on Friday.
The newspaper Verdens Gang and the radio station NRK reported that Askildsen had quietly fallen asleep on Thursday evening, a week before his 92nd birthday, while his wife Gina Giertsen had been at his side.
Askildsen wrote quite a few novels and novellas during his decades of writing and is considered one of the greatest writers of post-war Norway with his sober and minimalist style.
"He set a standard of his own for the art of the novella and prose, and it is a great loss for Norwegian literature and for the publishing house of Oktober," explained publishing director Ingeri Engelstad.
The Norwegian made his debut in 1953 with "From Now On I'll Walk You All The Way Home."
He has received several awards for his works, including the Nordic Prize of the Swedish Academy, which also awards the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 2009.
Some of Askildsen's works were also published in English, translated by Sean Kinsella, Jon Fosse and Eric Dickens.
