Johnsen, Mari Kanstad
Mari Kanstad Johnsen is an awarded and acclaimed visual artist, children's book author, and illustrator. She has a bachelor's degree from Oslo National Academy of the Arts and a master's from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts & Design in Stockholm. In 2012, Kanstad Johnsen's illustration for picture book
Vivaldi won a Gold Award for Illustration in the National Norwegian Graphic Design Awards and was included in
Flavorwire's list of "The 20 Most Beautiful Children's Books of All Time." In 2017, she was honored to receive a special mention for
Jeg Rømmer (I'm Out of Here) at the international Bologna Ragazzi Awards. Mari Kanstad Johnsen has illustrated for several newspapers and magazines, including the
New York Times.
Skomsvold, Kjersti Annesdatter
Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold made her literary debut in 2009 with the novel
The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am, which was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 2013, and awarded Norway's prestigious national Vesaas First Book Prize and nominated for the Norwegian Booksellers' Prize in 2009.
Monsterhuman, Skomsvold's second novel, was shortlisted for the NRK radio P2 Listeners' Prize and was nominated for Best Norwegian Book of 2012 by the magazine
Natt & Dag. Her third novel,
33, was published in 2014, and in 2017, she published
The Child, an acclaimed, highly personal novel about love and childbirth. A versatile and prodigious writer, Skomsvold writes fiction, poetry, and children's books. In 2021, she published the picture book Bedtime for Bo, in collaboration with artist Mari Kanstad Johnsen.
Dickson, Kari
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Kari Dickson grew up bilingually, as her mother is Norwegian and her grandparents could not speak English. She holds a B.A. in Scandinavian studies and an M.A. in translation.
