User:Lilduff90/Lillian Ueland (poet)

Lillian Ueland (born 20 February 1968 - died 29 November 2015) was a Norwegian poet and writer. She released two collections of poems during her lifetime, "Mot Nye Horisonter" in 2012 and "Livets Fargespill" in 2014.

Biography
Ueland was born and raised in Arna outside Bergen, Norway, and later studied teaching. After finishing her studies in 1988, she moved to Halsnøy in Kvinnherad, where she worked as a secondary school teacher and teaching assistant until 2011.

Career
In 2009, Ueland was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Having written poems since her youth, Ueland used poetry as a method of coping with her illness, writing poems celebrating life and encouraging to never give in. In 2012, she released her first collection of poems, "Mot Nye Horisonter", with all proceeds from the book going to cancer research in Norway. In promotion of the book, Ueland visited several hospitals and cancer centres to share her experiences. Two years later she released a follow-up, "Livets Fargespill", which combined poetry with nature photos taken by renowned photographer Atle Helland, with proceeds once again going to cancer research.

Posthumous recognition
Before her death, Ueland had began work on a book about her struggle with cancer. She had also begun work on having her second collection of poems turned into music, but she died before any of the projects were completed. The book, entitled "Selvfølgelig vil jeg leve" ("Of course I want to live"), was later finished by her parents Tarald and Laila Ueland with ghost writer Johanna Almelid in 2017. An album of songs using her poems as lyrics, also entitled "Livets Fargespill", is scheduled for release in late 2017, composed and performed by John Vegard Schow and Heidi Lambach.

In April 2017, it was announced that Ueland had been nominated for St. Olavs Orden for her work in cancer research and promoting open debates about cancer.

Illness and death
In 2009, Ueland was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Following aggressive treatments the cancer was in remission, but later returned and metastasized. In 2014, soon after the release of her second collection, the cancer was declared terminal. She died on 29 November 2015, aged 47. Ueland was married twice and had two sons by her first marriage.