Charles Kent was a Norwegian writer, editor and literary critic.

Education, background and work

He graduated from highschool in 1899 and studied then at the university. From 1910 to 1914 he was the editor in the newspaper Helgeland in Mo i Rana, from 1914 to 1919 he worked as a secretary in in the newspaper Norsk Næringsliv in Bergen, from 1919 to 1923 he was secretary in Foreningen Norden and from 1926 he was editor in the Swedish magazine Ord och Bild and from 1934 to 1937 he was chairman in the Norwegian PEN-club. He had several positions in the Norwegian Writers Union and received several scholarships.
In his youth he had been a close friend of Anders Krogvig

Anders Krogvig

Anders Krogvig was a Norwegian librarian, writer, literary consultant and critic.He was born in Kristiania as the son of Carl Gustav Krogvig and Antonette Pedersen. He was a first cousin of Tryggve Andersen. In April 1903 he married Aagot Kristine Moe...

 and was very influenced by him. When Kent at the end of his life worked with a collection of his poems and the election process was very hard his last defense for a poem he would like to put in the collection was always "Anders liked it..."
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Ideological position

Charles Kent was a leading man in the new-humanist tendency in Norwegian intellectual life in the 1920s and 30s. He was a proponent of "spiritual values" and defended them against what he saw as "mysticism devoid of spirit". In his moral philosophy he was a Kantian and put forth the categorical imperative as a moral guideline.

Ideological conflicts in Forfatterforeningen

Kent was in the 20s deputy chairman in Forfatterforeningen which at that time had Ronald Fangen

Ronald Fangen

Ronald Fangen was a Norwegian novelist, essayist, playwright, psalmist, journalist and literary critic. He was born in Kragerø, and perished in a plane accident in 1946....

 as chairman. He was among those who reacted when Sigurd Hoel

Sigurd Hoel

Sigurd Hoel was a Norwegian author and publishing consultant, born in Nord-Odal. He debuted with the collection of short stories Veien vi gaar in 1922...

 and Helge Krog

Helge Krog

Helge Krog was a Norwegian journalist, essayist, theatre and literary critic, translator and playwright.-Personal life:...

 in 1930 received scholarships from the union. Kent and others were of the opinion that Krog and Hoel could not receive any money since the statutes of the union said that the receivers should not "belong to movements that are in conflict with morality or the on Christianity founded order of society". Kent, who Helge Krogh referred to as Ronald Fangen's "astral body", was an outspoken participator in this idelogical conflict that ended with Hoel, Krog, Arnulf Øverland

Arnulf Øverland

Ole Peter Arnulf Øverland was a Norwegian author born in Kristiansund and raised in Bergen. His works include Berget det blå and Hustavler .-Life:...

, Francis Bull

Francis Bull

Francis Bull was a Norwegian literary historian, professor at the University of Oslo for more than thirty years, essayist and speaker, and magazine editor.-Early and personal life:...

 and A.H. Winsnes leaving the union.

Death

Kent died in 1938 after a period of sickness. His death was announced on the cover of Aftenposten.

Other

He is supposedly the first Norwegian critic who used a psychoanalytical method when criticising a literary work.

Works

• Juninætter (Night in June) (1916)
• Dagdrømmen (Daydream) (1919)
• Min ungdoms by og andre vers (The city of my youth and other verses) (1920)
• Palmeøerne (Palmislands) (1924)
• Under norsk flag (Under Norwegian flag) (1925)
• Amerika rundt (Around America) (1926)
• Den gode strid (The good fight) (1928)
• Vestindiefart (Travelling to the West-Indies) (1929)
• En lægmand orienterer sig i tilværelsen (A layman orients himself in his being) (1931)
• Det står skrevet (It is written) (1937)