Ingeborg Refling Hagen (19 December 1895 – 30 October 1989) was a Norwegian author, poet, and artistic director. Her writings and activities in support of the arts made her a significant cultural figure in Norway during much of the 20th century. Biography Ingeborg Refling Hagen was born in the parish of Tangen in Hedmark, Norway. She was the fourth child of the local miller. Her father died young and the family had to work hard for self-support. Ingeborg and her younger sisters were forced to quit elementary school and enter into the labor market. Aside from a year at a public high school, seven years of elementary school provided her sole official education. However, her childhood was enriched by strong folk tradition and story-telling, and also a strong religious consciousness, mostly derived from her mother, who taught in the spirit of Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771–1824). Starting in 1911, she worked as a nanny for the Kielland family at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England. During this time, she first studied Shakespeare. She also socialized with other members of the local working class. A remembrance of her Newcastle years was the geordie accented English which she spoke throughout her life. The experiences hard work gave her made for strong socialist sympathies later in her life. She developed sympathetic views of common people as well as the conditions of the poor. She supported the Norwegian Labour Party for most of her life although she often opposed official political statements by the party in later years. But in whole, she applauded the development of the welfare state. Career She published her first books in the 1920s. Her novels at the early stage were expressionistic and based on her native environment in Hedmark. She was the first to make use of the local dialects from this part of Norway, thus inspiring future writers. She made a lyrical breakthrough in 1933, with a book of Immigrant poems, describing the immigrant's longing for home. During the 1930s Hagen began to warn against the rise of fascism, along with other authors including Nordahl Grieg and Arnulf Øverland. She had made a journey to Italy, experiencing a fascist rally and a public speech given by Benito Mussolini. When she later used this experience in a novel, she was accused of exaggerations, as the Norwegian right-wing press at the time did not fully understand the actual danger. Her political attitude led to active