Simen Ekern

Simen Ekern (b. 1975) is an author and journalist. In recent years, he has been based in Brussels, where he worked as a correspondent for NRK. He currently works as a foreign affairs commentator for Dagens Næringsliv.

Ekern is trained as a historian of ideas and has for many years been considered one of Norway’s foremost experts on Italy. He made his literary debut in 2006 with the book Berlusconi’s Italy. In 2011, he published Rome, which won the Brage Prize for best non-fiction that same year. This was followed by Europeans (2015), a report from a continent in trouble. His most recent publication is The People, That Is Me (2017), a book about the rise and future of right-wing populism in Europe.