Brit Bildøen is viewed as foremost among contemporary Norwegian authors. Her 1998 novel Tvillingfeber (Twin Fever) won both the Oslo Prize and the Nynorsk Litteratur prizes, and was nominated for the prestigious Brage Prize in Norway. Her next novel, Landfastlykke (Mainland Happiness, 2001) won the Melsom Prize and the Sigmund Skard Scholarship. Bildøen was trained as a librarian, but she has translated literature, worked as a newspaper editor as well as a publishing consultant for Samlaget, and was a member of the Literary Council of the Norwegian Author’s Union.