Sigurd Hoel (December 14, 1890 – October 14, 1960) was a Norwegian author and publishing consultant, born in Nordre Odalen Municipality. A prolific writer and critic, during the World War II he was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement.

In his early years, Hoel was deeply interested in psychoanalysis, for some years he was a dedicated follower of Sigmund Freud, but after 1932 he became close to Wilhelm Reich who deeply influenced subsequent works and views of Hoel.

As a writer, he debuted with the collection of short stories Veien vi gaar (The Way We Go) in 1922. His breakthrough came with Syndere i sommersol (Sinners in Summertime, 1927), which was made into a film in 1932 and in 2002.

Hoel's prose is largely autobiographical. In his books he contemplates on the impact of childhood on adulthood and overall man’s character, and the protective mechanisms of the psyche as a result of childhood trauma. Hoel's novels raise questions of morality and sexual freedom as well as themes of betrayal and guilt.

Sigurd Hoel was born in Nordre Odalen Municipality, Norway, in 1890. He was the son of teacher Lars Anton and Elisa Dorothea Hoel and grew up in Odalen. Lars Anton, was a village teacher and sang in the church choir. Although Sigurd received a fairly mild upbringing by the standards of the time, his father was strict, authoritarian and emotionally distant. Sigurd's childhood in a strictly patriarchal family and his father's harsh, often unjust attitude had a strong influence on the writer-to-be, and became one of the central themes of his works: feelings of guilt and shame, which were permanently instilled in the child, not only made Hoel's childhood an unhappy period in his life, but also shaped its subsequent course.

After primary school, Hoel was admitted into Ragna Nielsen's school in Oslo where he showed himself as a smart and able student. However, when he finished school in 1909, he could not afford to begin college right away. He worked for a while as an insurance salesman before he could begin his studies in 1910, during which time he supported himself with teaching jobs. Although Hoel was glad to get out of the village, life in the big city came as a shock to him, and for a long time he felt very insecure in front of his urban peers. Gradually he managed to integrate and find friends among the students, in 1913 he started working as a teacher at Ragna Nielsen's Latin School [no].

In his time at college he was the editor of the periodical Minerva. His literary career began with the short story "Idioten" ('The Idiot') from 1918 that he write in one day for a writing contest. The same year he became an employee of Socialdemokraten as a literature and theater critic. In 1919, Hoel had a child born out of wedlock who was put up for adoption.

In 1920 Hoel wrote the comedy Den Enes Død together with his friend Finn Bø. Harald Grieg got him a job as a consultant for Gyldendal Norsk Forlag and Erling Falk made him the editor of Mot Dag. Hoel's first independent publication was published at the same time: an essay entitled 'A Word about Knut Hamsun'. Hamsun was a literary idol of Hoel, who, although not sharing his political views and condemning many of his actions, appreciated Hamsun's poetic gift. In 1922, Hoel's first short story collection was published, which was strongly influenced by the German expressionists and mainly Hjalmar Söderberg.