author
Martha Ostenso
1900–1963
Best known for the powerful prairie novel Wild Geese, this Norwegian-born writer built a career that stretched from fiction and poetry to screenwriting. Her work helped make her an important voice in both Canadian and American literary history.
1 Audiobook
Villihanhet
by Martha Ostenso
About the author
Born in Bergen, Norway, on September 17, 1900, she emigrated to North America with her family as a small child and grew up in the American Midwest before later living in Manitoba. She studied at the University of Manitoba and first gained wide attention with Wild Geese (1925), the novel that brought her major literary recognition.
She went on to write numerous novels, along with poetry, short fiction, and screen work. Her writing is often associated with prairie realism, and readers still remember her for intense landscapes, family conflict, and strong-willed characters.
Martha Ostenso died on November 24, 1963, in Washington state. Though often claimed by both Canada and the United States, her life and work naturally connect her to both traditions, which is part of what makes her such an interesting literary figure.