Knut Ljosland, born in Kristiansand 1946, studied German philology at Oslo University and worked as a secondary school teacher. He graduated with "Zur Nachbarschaft" about the poetry of Johannes Bobrowski.

In 1984 he published a volume of Bobrowski in Norwegian, ”Grannelag Sarmatien”, followed by editions of Peter Huchel (”Vegfar”), the Rumanian-German poet Anemone Latzina (”Dagboksdagar”) and Wassily Kandinsky's ”Klangar”.

Knut Ljosland is member of the Norwegian Translators' Association and has published articles on literature in magazines and newspapers.