Career

He was born in Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

. In his younger years he was active in Clarté

Clarté (Norway)

Clarté was a socialist and pacifist organisation in Norway.It was founded in 1925, and had its roots in a French-based international organization of the same name...

, a student organization at University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

 and in contact with Mot Dag

Mot Dag

Mot Dag was a Norwegian periodical and a communist organization with the same name.It was established in 1921 under the initiative of Erling Falk, partly with origins in the debate forum in the Social Democratic student government in Oslo ; partly from a Falk-led study circle which from 1919...

, a forum among the social democratic students (later the Student's Communist Organization). He then joined the Workers' Youth League

Workers' Youth League (Norway)

The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...

 and worked actively with them. He began as a journalist apprentice with Hamar Arbeiderblad

Hamar Arbeiderblad

Hamar Arbeiderblad is a local newspaper published in Hamar, Norway. It is part of the media company Hamar Media. The newspaper was first published on 30 March 1925, in 1,200 copies. It was the local branches of the Labour Party that took the initiative to start up the publication. It is no longer a...

and continued as a journalist in many weekly workers papers including Tiden in Arendal

Arendal

is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. Arendal belongs to the traditional region of Sørlandet.The town of Arendal is the administrative center the municipality and also of Aust-Agder county...

, Fremtiden

Fremtiden

Fremtiden was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Drammen.Fremtiden was started in 1905. Its first editor was Torgeir Vraa, who edited the newspaper from its start until his death in 1934. Fremtiden became the main organ for tne Norwegian Labour Party in Buskerud. During the 1980s the newspaper had...

in Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

 and Arbeidernes Pressekontor in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. Finally in 1939 he began to work for the Arbeiderbladet.

During the war Evensmo was active with the resistance and he wrote for the illegal paper, Bulletinen until he was forced into hiding and finally to flee from Norway. From 1953 through 1959 he was the editor for the paper Orientering

Orientering

Orientering was a Norwegian newspaper which was initially published in December 1952 as an alternative voice. It was absorbed into Ny Tid in 1975....

. He served as film critic for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) from 1948 until 1962.

Before the Second World War he had written a play, Konflikt, in 1934. His first novel, published in 1945, was Englandsfarere. The theme of the book was based on Evensmo's personal experiences during the war. His trilogy consisting of Grenseland (1947), Flaggermusene (1949) and Hjemover (1951) are recognized as a major example of Norwegian post-war literature, and explore the social and psychological differences between the country and city cultures as well as the intellectual development of workers between the wars. Evensmo won the Kritikerprisen for the books, and at the close of the 1970s, the trilogy was produced for television by NRK. His novels Gåten fra år null, Femten døgn med Gordona and Miraklet på Blindern can all be categorized as science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

; Evensmo was among the first to write in this genre in Norway. He also wrote the scripts for many films.

Prizes and recognition

• 1951 - Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature for the trilogy novels Grenseland, Flaggermusene and Hjemover
• 1976 - Gyldendal's Endowment
  Gyldendal's Endowment
  Gyldendal's Endowment was a literature prize which was awarded in the period 1934–1995 by the Norwegian publisher Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The prize was awarded to significant authors, regardless of which publisher the author was associated with...
  
  
• 1977 - Nominated for the The Nordic Council's Literature Prize
  The Nordic Council's Literature Prize
  The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth 350,000 Danish kroner...
  
   (Nordisk Råds litteraturpris) for the novel Inn i din tid

Books

• 1945 Englandsfarere, novel
• 1946 Oppbrudd etter midnatt, novel
• 1947 Grenseland, novel
• 1949 Flaggermusene, novel
• 1951 Hjemover, novel
• 1954 Glassveggen, collection of stories
• 1955 Trollspeilet: streiftokt i film
• 1956 Østenfor vest og vestenfor øst: Jugoslavia under Tito
• 1956 Gåten fra år null, novel
• 1962 Femten døgn med Gordona, novel
• 1964 Feider og finter
• 1966 Miraklet på Blindern, novel
• 1967 Det store tivoli: film og kino i Norge gjennom 70 år
• 1968 Norske forfattere i krig og fred: Den Norske forfatterforening
  Norwegian Authors' Union
  The Norwegian Authors' Union is an association of Norwegian authors. It was established in 1893 to promote Norwegian literature and protect Norwegian authors' professional and economic interests. DnF also works in solidarity with persecuted writers internationally.As of 2004 the association had...
  
   1940-1968, written with Alex Brinchmann
  Alex Brinchmann
  Alexander Brinchmann was a Norwegian children's physician and song writer, novelist, playwright and crime writer. He was a leader of the Norwegian Authors' Union from 1941 to 1945.-Personal life:...
  
  
• 1969 Vold i filmene: ett års kinoprogrammer i Norge og noen perspektiver
• 1970 Observasjoner, essay collection
• 1971 Den nakne sannheten: sex i filmene
• 1974 Gyldendal og gyldendøler
• 1976 Inn i din tid
• 1978 Ut i kulda