The Hamsun Days
The Hamsun Days at Hamarøy was first held in 1982 and is one of Nordland’s oldest cultural festivals. The festival is owned and organised by the Hamsun Society, an independent society in which the main participants are the Knut Hamsun Centre, the Hamarøy Municipal Council and volunteers. The Hamsun Days is held every second year (even years) in the first week of August to coincide with Knut Hamsun’s birthday.
The Hamsun Days is now a prominent literature festival. With the life and works of Knut Hamsun as the background, the festival aims to be a meeting place for good, enthusiastic literature, and the strong opinions that create debate. The main focus of the programme is the works and history of Knut Hamsun, which is presented through a wide variety of forms of expression: music, art, theatre, performance, film, meetings for authors, seminars, writing courses and more by both professionals and amateurs.
The growth of the Hamsun Days in Hamarøy has, more than any other event in the country, led to people being able to once again talk about Knut Hamsun and it being lawful and acceptable to work on projects about Hamsun. It was also in the environment around the Hamsun Days in Hamarøy that the idea about a Knut Hamsun Centre first saw the light of day in 1986.
Throughout the world Hamarøy and Nordland are linked with the nature and the people as they are depicted in Knut Hamsun’s literary works.
For more information, please visit:www.knuthamsun.no
