{{Short description|Norwegian writer (born 1983)}} {{infobox person | name = Erika Fatland | image = Erika Fatland 2019.jpg | caption = Erika Fatland in 2019 | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1983}} | birth_place = Haugesund, Rogaland, Norway | death_date = | death_place = | website = {{URL|www.erikafatland.com}} | occupation = Writer | alma_mater = University of Oslo <br /> University of Copenhagen }}
'''Erika Fatland''' (born 1983) is a Norwegian anthropologist, critic and writer. Her authorship focuses on travel writing and history. Fatland is the recipient of several awards for her writing and has been translated to twenty languages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norli Bokhandel |url=https://www.norli.no/forfatter/erika-fatland |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=www.norli.no}}</ref>
Fatland currently has a ten-year artist’s stipend from the Norwegian Government. She has written seven books.
== Early life and career == Fatland was born in Haugesund Municipality, Norway, in 1983, and read for an MPhil in anthropology at the University of Oslo.<ref>{{Citation |last=Hovdenakk |first=Sindre |title=Erika Fatland |date=2024-11-13 |work=Store norske leksikon |url=https://snl.no/Erika_Fatland |access-date=2024-11-23 |language=no}}</ref>
Her first travel book, ''Sovietistan'', published in 2015, was an account of her travels through five post-Soviet Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It has been translated into 12 languages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/erika-fatland/sovietistan/|title=SOVIETISTAN | Kirkus Reviews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/f89ba382-bf77-11e9-b350-db00d509634e|title=Sovietistan by Erika Fatland — mesmerising trip across central Asia|newspaper=Financial Times|date=6 September 2019|last1=Foy|first1=Henry}}</ref>
This was followed by ''The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage'', an account of her travels around Russia's border, from North Korea to Norway. Both books have been translated into English by Kari Dickson, and both received critical acclaim from reviewers in the US and UK.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Erika-Fatland/172277994|title = Erika Fatland}}</ref> The book was reviewed by ''The Washington Post''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-border-asks-what-is-life-like-when-you-live-next-door-to-an-aggressive-bully/2021/03/10/811b2730-8053-11eb-ac37-4383f7709abe_story.html |title='The Border' asks: What is life like when you live next door to a bully nation? |date=2021-03-10 |author1=Michael Dirda |newspaper=The Washington Post |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409}}</ref>
She wrote two earlier books: ''The Village of Angels'' (2011) about the Beslan massacre and ''The Year Without a Summer'' about the Utoya massacre. She has also written the children's book ''The Parent War''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Books From Norway|url=https://booksfromnorway.com/books/173-sovietistan-a-journey-through-turkmenistan-kazakhstan-kyrgyzstan-tadzhikistan-and-uzbekistan|access-date=2021-07-01|website=Books From Norway|language=en}}</ref>
She has received numerous awards, among them the Norwegian Booksellers’ Prize for Nonfiction and the Wesselprisen (2016). She speaks eight languages including Norwegian, English, French, Russian, German, Italian, and Spanish. She lives in Oslo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://covepark.org/artists/erika-fatland/|title = Erika Fatland « Cove Park}}</ref>
== Bibliography == * ''The Village of Angels'' (2011) * ''The Year Without a Summer'' (2012) * ''Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan'' (2020)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-64313-326-3|title = Nonfiction Book Review: Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland, trans. From the Norwegian by Kari Dickson. Pegasus, $29.95 (480p) ISBN 978-1-64313-326-3|date = 7 January 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.startribune.com/review-sovietistan-by-erika-fatland/566683701/|title = Review: 'Sovietistan,' by Erika Fatland|website = Star Tribune}}</ref> * ''The Border: A Journey Around Russia Through North Korea, China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and the Northeast Passage'' (2021) * ''High: A Journey Across the Himalaya, Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China'' (2023) * Sjøfareren - en reise gjennom Portugals tapte imperium (The seafarer: A travel through Portugals lost empire) (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sjøfareren - en reise gjennom Portugals tapte imperium |url=https://www.ark.no/produkt/boker/hobbyboker-og-fritid/sjofareren-9788248936459 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.ark.no |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fatland, Erika}} Category:Living people Category:1983 births Category:Norwegian writers Category:Writers about Russia Category:Norwegian women writers Category:University of Copenhagen alumni Category:University of Oslo alumni Category:21st-century Norwegian writers