Ola Jordheim Halvorsen - Selected Title Author
We are happy to present our selected title author Ola Jordheim Halvorsen. He has written The Last Cock of the Woods. On a Road Trip Through Europe with a Kidnapped Capercaillie in the Luggage (original title: Den siste tiur – på roadtrip gjennom Europa med en kidnappet tiur i bagasjen). The book is one of NORLA’s Selected Titles of the autumn 2025.
What is your book about?
The cock of the woods (also known as capercaillie or wood grouse) has been a species central to cultural identity in many European countries since the Romantic era. The male bird has become the very embodiment of old, enchanted forests, but the species is struggling in several countries. To save a dying population in Alsace, French authorities were granted permission to capture capercaillie from Finnskogen in Norway – in the very forests where my grandfather grew up and hunted these birds, where my father has hunted, and where I myself still hunt today with my son, Nils. The great global environmental crisis suddenly became very local and personal; the French were capturing the very birds I dream of hunting – the forest’s little ghost with its uncanny ability to elude hunters.
In this book, I decided to follow the action, tracing the bird from my childhood hunting grounds to a beautiful forest in Alsace. The journey following the bird became just as much a journey into myself. I try to understand what the capercaillie truly means to me, and what it means to France. The book is about hunting, identity, heritage, the environment, and our relationship with nature – just as much as it is about a single bird. The road trip across the continent forms the backbone of the book, but it is also a coming-of-age story, shaped by a lifelong obsession with the capercaillie.
What inspired you to write this book?
Many books about nature these days have a dark undertone. And in truth, this story is also quite grim. Nature is struggling. Species after species is disappearing. As a journalist, I have long been drawn to uncovering stories that reveal the deeper significance behind what seems insignificant. And these stories should preferably be told with a sense of humor! The kidnapped capercaillie opened the door for me to write about something that really concerns us all in a personal, humorous way. The fact that habitat loss and overtourism in Alsace’s wine country ultimately affect a humble hunter from Finnskogen in Norway is actually pretty funny. There’s a culture clash here on several levels. I still smile when I think about the journey and all the people I got to know along the way.
Read more
See full presentation of the book here
Read more about the author here
See all NORLA’s Selected Titles for the autumn 2025 here
