Episode 1

Morten Stroksnes and his friend Hugo are in pursuit of the elusive Greenland shark, but it's not easy to find in the seas off northern Norway.

The Lofoten archipelago, just north of the Arctic Circle, is a place of unsurpassed beauty. The skyline spikes with dramatic peaks; the radiant greens and purples of the Northern Lights follow summers where the sun never sets. It's a place of small villages, where the art of fishing, though evolving, is still practiced in traditional ways.

Beneath the great depths surrounding these islands lurks the infamous Greenland shark. Shark Drunk is the true story of two friends, the author and the artist Hugo Aasjord, as they embark on a wild pursuit of the famed creature - all from a tiny rubber boat.

Winner of the Norwegian Brage Prize 2015
Winner of the Norwegian Critics' Prize for Literature 2015
Winner of the Norwegian Reine Ord Prize at Lofoten International Literature Festival 2016

Morten Stroksnes is a Norwegian historian, journalist, photographer, and writer. He has written reportage, essays, portraits, and columns and reviews for most major Norwegian newspapers and magazines. He has published four critically acclaimed books of literary reportage and contributed to several others.

Written by Morten Stroksnes , translated by Tiina Nunnally
Read by Adrian Scarborough
Abridged and Produced by Jill Waters
A Waters Company production for BBC Radio 4.