Martha Ostenso
Encyclopedia
Martha Ostenso was a Canadian
novelist and screenwriter
.
), in Hordaland
County, Norway
. Her parents were Sigurd and Olina (née Tungeland) Ostenso. She emigrated with her family to the United States in 1902. They first settled in South Dakota
and Minnesota
before immigrating to Canada in the province of Manitoba
. Ostenso taught in a rural school and was educated at the University of Manitoba
.
, published in 1925. Hailed by critics as a landmark in Canadian realism, the novel is a story about a young schoolteacher sent to teach in rural Manitoba. Wild Geese won the 1925 Dodd, Mead and Company Best Novel of the Year Award and brought her much popular and critical attention. It made her a well-known and best-selling author.. The novel was filmed as Ruf der Wildgänse in 1961 as a West-German and Austrian co-production and as After the Harvest in 2001 for Canadian TV.
Ostenso continued to publish short stories, novels and wrote a number of screenplay
s. Although it is now known that Ostenso collaborated with her husband, fellow novelist Douglas Durkin
, all her writing appeared under her name alone. Ostenso produced fifteen more novels, the most successful of which was O River, Remember, a novel about a family in the Red River Valley
of Minnesota which won a Literary Guild selection in 1943.
Many of her novels were based on Minnesota farm life; most incorporate elements of romance and melodrama. Ostenso portrays the lives of rural immigrants with dignity. Although none of her later novels ever reached the acclaim Wild Geese attracted, most continued to explore a similar theme: the relationship between men and women and the land they work. A number of her other works were translated and have been reprinted several times.
Asked how to pronounce her name, she told The Literary Digest
, "Of the three syllables in Ostenso, the first receives the major accent, the second is without accent, the third receives a minor accent. The final result is as if you spoke the name Austin and added so as an afterthought... Since I was born in Norway, I suppose I should insist on the Norwegian values. But I don't. I am even weary of correcting people who insist that it is Ostenso. However, the Norwegians say Östensö... The accent is the same, so perhaps I am not too pedantic in maintaining that accent, since I have to sacrifice the vowel character."
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novelist and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
.
Background
Ostenso was born in Haukeland (now part of BergenBergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
), in Hordaland
Hordaland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...
County, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Her parents were Sigurd and Olina (née Tungeland) Ostenso. She emigrated with her family to the United States in 1902. They first settled in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
and Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
before immigrating to Canada in the province of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. Ostenso taught in a rural school and was educated at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
.
Biography
Ostenso is probably best known for the award-winning novel Wild GeeseWild Geese (novel)
Wild Geese is a Canadian novel of the historical fiction genre written by the author Martha Ostenso, first published in 1925 by Dodd, Mead and Company. The story is set on the prairies of Manitoba, Canada in the 1920s. The novel details characters struggling against victimization to achieve a...
, published in 1925. Hailed by critics as a landmark in Canadian realism, the novel is a story about a young schoolteacher sent to teach in rural Manitoba. Wild Geese won the 1925 Dodd, Mead and Company Best Novel of the Year Award and brought her much popular and critical attention. It made her a well-known and best-selling author.. The novel was filmed as Ruf der Wildgänse in 1961 as a West-German and Austrian co-production and as After the Harvest in 2001 for Canadian TV.
Ostenso continued to publish short stories, novels and wrote a number of screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s. Although it is now known that Ostenso collaborated with her husband, fellow novelist Douglas Durkin
Douglas Durkin
Douglas Durkin was a Canadian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter.-Biography:Douglas Leader Durkin was born in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada, but moved with his family to Swan River, Manitoba, during his youth...
, all her writing appeared under her name alone. Ostenso produced fifteen more novels, the most successful of which was O River, Remember, a novel about a family in the Red River Valley
Red River Valley
The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...
of Minnesota which won a Literary Guild selection in 1943.
Many of her novels were based on Minnesota farm life; most incorporate elements of romance and melodrama. Ostenso portrays the lives of rural immigrants with dignity. Although none of her later novels ever reached the acclaim Wild Geese attracted, most continued to explore a similar theme: the relationship between men and women and the land they work. A number of her other works were translated and have been reprinted several times.
Asked how to pronounce her name, she told The Literary Digest
Literary Digest
The Literary Digest was an influential general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, Public Opinion and Current Opinion.-History:...
, "Of the three syllables in Ostenso, the first receives the major accent, the second is without accent, the third receives a minor accent. The final result is as if you spoke the name Austin and added so as an afterthought... Since I was born in Norway, I suppose I should insist on the Norwegian values. But I don't. I am even weary of correcting people who insist that it is Ostenso. However, the Norwegians say Östensö... The accent is the same, so perhaps I am not too pedantic in maintaining that accent, since I have to sacrifice the vowel character."
Selected bibliography
- In a Far Land (1924)
- Wild GeeseWild Geese (novel)Wild Geese is a Canadian novel of the historical fiction genre written by the author Martha Ostenso, first published in 1925 by Dodd, Mead and Company. The story is set on the prairies of Manitoba, Canada in the 1920s. The novel details characters struggling against victimization to achieve a...
(1925) - The Dark Dawn (1926)
- The Mad Carews (1927)
- The Young May Moon (1929)
- The Waters under the Earth (1930)
- Prologue to Love (1931)
- There's Always Another Year (1933)
- The White Reef (1934)
- The Stone Field (1937)
- The Mandrake Root (1938)
- Love Passed This Way (1942)
- And They Shall Walk (1943, with Sister Elizabeth KennyElizabeth KennyElizabeth Kenny was an unqualified Australian nurse who promoted a controversial new approach to the treatment of poliomyelitis in the era before mass vaccination eradicated the disease in most countries.-Youth:...
) - O River, Remember! (1943)
- Milk Route (1948)
- The Sunset Tree (1949)
- A Man Had Tall Sons (1958)