Finn Carling was born in Oslo in 1925. He was born with cerebral palsy which coloured his writing, as regards his interest in outsiders and isolation. He studied psychology at the University of Oslo but did not take his degree, having decided to become a writer. He studied sociology on a grant and has written essays on social outsiders such as the blind and homosexuals. In his earlier writings he focused on the relationship between reality and fantasy but, after writing his autobiography (Kilden og muren (And Yet We Are Human)) in 1958, he started showing an interest in social outsiders. In the 1970s, he moved back to the fantastic, while becoming more pessimistic in his more recent writings. As well as novels and essays, he has also written plays and poetry. He died in 2004.