Knausgård or Knausgaard, Karl Ove, 1968–, Norwegian writer, b. Oslo grad. Univ. of Bergen. He is best known for his six-volume autobiographical work, Min Kamp (2009–11, tr. My Struggle, 2012–18), which involves bleak revelations about himself, his family, and friends, all described in minute detail with minimal plot. The books received critical acclaim, and some compared them to works of Marcel Proust; others criticized the work, particularly the final volume, as dull and overwrought. Knausgård coedited (1999–2002) Vagant, a Norwegian literary magazine, and has also written fiction, including Ute av verden [out of the world] (1998) and En tid for alt (2004; tr. A Time for Everything, 2009). His Årstid encyklopedien [seasonal encyclopedia] (4 vol., 2015–16; tr. 2017–18 as Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer), is ostensibly addressed to his youngest child. In short pieces the first two and the last largely and intimately describe the ordinary things and experiences of daily life, though Summer also includes a short fictional work; Spring records his wife's depression while pregnant and the more difficult mundane aspects of childraising. His book So Much Longing in So Little Space (2019) is a study of his fellow countryman, artist Edvard Munch.
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