DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION
DANISH LITER ARY MAGA ZINE SPRING 2018
WELCOME Spring beckons us with new beginnings, with a fresh look at the familiar and an appetite for the unfamiliar. In this issue of Danish Literary Magazine we profile three of Denmark’s literary giants: Tove Ditlevsen (1917-1976), who would have turned 100 this past December, and whose
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KIRSTEN THORUP
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AWARDS
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BOOKS IN BRIEF
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TOVE DITLEVSEN
enduring popularity inspires ’Tove-Fever’. The artist collective, Sort Samvittighed, tell about their fascination for her life and her writing, and about the process of transferring both parts into a prize-winning theatre performance. Inger Christensen (1935-2009), whose works have been recognised internationally, now finds her work in the spotlight once more, with the publication of a collection of her unpublished material. Long-standing Gyldendal Publishing Director, Johannes
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KASPAR COLLING NIELSEN
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INGER CHRISTENSEN
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RECENTLY SOLD
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SUPPORT SCHEMES
Riis, offers an insight into the delicate process of assembling a life’s work, as well as shedding new light on a well-regarded writer and poet. In addition, we highlight Kirsten Thorup (1942), who received the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize 2017 for her novel Erindring om kærligheden (Recollection of Love). In an interview she speaks about the book and elucidates, among other things, the reference to love in the title, stating, “[It] is more about Plato’s memory of love. It is a concept and an
ideal, something that is inherent, an idea that we have perhaps from before birth …”. In Books in Brief we offer an overview of a selection of recent Danish publications, as well as recent prize-winning authors and a list of titles sold abroad between August 2017 and January 2018. In addition, we have provided information regarding the Danish Arts Foundation’s funding programmes for translators and publishers abroad. Søren Beltoft & Marie Starup / EDITORS
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE PHOTO: LÆRKE POSSELT
NORDIC COUNCIL LITERATURE PRIZE Kirsten Thorup was awarded the Nordic Council Literature prize in 2017, for her novel, Erindring om kærligheden (Recollection of Love). Thorup’s gripping literary novel captures the fragility of human connections in the story of Tara’s life, her search for identity and her yearning to connect to other people, especially her own daughter.
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE INTERVIEWS KIRSTEN THORUP
The protagonist, Tara, is cast as Hamlet in an experimental staging of the play, but turns down the role, and a potential artistic breakthrough, to marry an asylum seeker, preventing him from being sent away. From there Tara’s life tailspins. Yet despite her apparent helplessness, she continues to reach out to vulnerable individuals. Along the way, Tara becomes pregnant, but motherhood is a challenge for her, and the novel follows the ensuing tumultuous relationship between her and her daughter Siri. While Tara faces loss and eventual homelessness, Siri becomes a politically engaged performance artist - her final performance - a reconciliation of her
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role as artist and mother-to-be, as well a reunion with her own mother. WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT FOR THE CHARACTERS IN YOUR NOVEL TO BECOME CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER?
The relationship between parents and their children is often very complex. There are a lot of stories, for good reason, where the grown-up child writes about their parents and their childhood. I wanted to see the drama from the other side, from the parent’s side. It’s an emotional roller coaster regardless of whether you have a good time together or not. I discovered while I was writing that 18-20% of the population in Denmark have either cut off one or both of their parents, or a sibling.
Motherhood is really difficult for Tara, and that is partially due to the fact that she suffered from a post-natal depression, so right from the start there is a disconnect to motherhood and a distance from the child. Then there’s a whole other issue, which relates to her character, which is her inability to really connect to other people. That’s her greatest shortcoming I think. Closeness is something you learn as a child, and it’s something Tara never learned from her own mother. TARA’S IDENTITY IS CONSTANTLY QUESTIONED BY OTHER CHARACTERS AND BY HERSELF. WHO IS TARA AND WHAT DEFINED HER FOR YOU AS A WRITER?
Tara faces a series of failures in her life, and for me all these
KIRSTEN THORUP scenarios ask the same question: “Who is Tara?” Of course this also has something to do with the time period, and relates to the women’s movement, but in reality, what really started the book for me were those scenes that show that Tara is a person who helps others on instinct. Despite the chaotic nature of her character, Tara is a do-er, someone who acts when others don’t. It’s not an ideology for her, it comes naturally. I asked the question – what does it mean to be helpful? Can one help others? If so, who should one help? Can this kind of exchange ever be the basis for an equal relationship? The whole issue of help is just as relevant in the world we live in today. Should we only help our families, or should we help our neighbors too? Should help stop at the city gates or at the borders? CAN YOU EXPLAIN A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PLOT STRUCTURE AND HOW YOUR NOVEL MOVES FORWARD IN RELATION TO THE THEME OF ALTRUISM?
When I figured out that Tara was going to be thrown out of her apartment, I resolved the problem of how the two women (Tara and her daughter) would meet (and I thought they should, otherwise there wouldn’t be a novel there). Tara walks around looking for her daughter, a successful artist, at various art galleries where her art is presented, but it’s obvious that it would be incredibly anticlimactic if she found her there. It’s in the moment that the mother literally becomes homeless, and isn’t around anymore, that the daughter starts looking for her, and I can turn the story around. In the end, they both grow up, they are shaken to the core, by violent and traumatic experiences, and knocked out of
“I learned to manage each new day on my own, have foresight, think ahead, make plans like a little General. Nobody told me what to do. I was my own master.” “Where was I?” asked Tara. In response Siri lay one of the sketches on the table in front of her. It showed a sequence of five drawings with a woman and a child lying under a dining table while they cover their ears with their hands. “I don’t remember that.” Tara had finally got what she had wished for with all her heart: Siri’s own version of her childhood. And then the picture frames of the cartoon strip were completely unrecognizable. Were they actually talking about the same childhood? “I’ve had an entirely different childhood than the one that is haunting you,” said Siri as though she could read her thoughts. “Memories change over time, one doesn’t have the same childhood throughout life,” she continued self-assured. “Everything flows,” nodded Tara. EXCERPT FROM THE NOVEL TRANSLATED BY SOLVEJ SCHARLING TODD
their mother-daughter rut. Parents have to grow up too, not just children. There’s nothing final about growing up; we do it many times throughout our lives. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TITLE ‘ERINDRING OM KÆRLIGHEDEN’ (RECOLLECTION OF LOVE)?
The book obviously isn’t about a person who sits around remembering a romance from their youth, or their love-filled marriage. Erindring om kærligheden is more about Plato’s memory of love. It is a concept and an ideal, something that is inherent, an idea that we have perhaps from before birth, something one can always recognize when it comes along, regardless of whether one can keep hold of it or not. KIRSTEN THORUP, born 1942, is a widely read author of three poetry collections, a volume of short stories, and nine novels, including Baby (Baby), from 1973, which was made into a film in 2003. Thorup’s most well-known works are her four novels about little Jonna from the provinces. In more recent
PARENTS HAVE TO GROW UP TOO, NOT JUST CHILDREN
years, her novels include Bonsai (Bonsai) 2000 and Tilfældets gud (The God of Chance) 2011. Thorup has also written for film, television and radio. Her novels have been translated into 15 languages, and she has received many honours, including a three-year grant from the Danish Arts Foundation, the Golden Laurel (the Danish bookseller’s prize), the Danish Critics Prize for Literature and the Grand Prize of the Danish Academy. Thorup’s writing has been largely inspired, among others, by Elsa Morante.
KIRSTEN THORUP
Erindring om kærligheden (Recollection of Love) Gyldendal, 2016, 461 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Lydia Pedersen: lydia_pedersen@gyldendalgroupagency.dk SOLD TO: Norway/Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, Spain/Errata Naturae Editores
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
TINE HØEG PHOTO: LÆRKE POSSELT
the immediacy of performance poetry and the bluntness of social media commentary. A story about entering the adult world and discovering its pitfalls.
Debutant prize Adult-Coming-of-Age Story Tine Høeg’s debut novel, for which she was awarded the Debutant Prize at the Copenhagen Book Fair in November 2017, displays
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TINE HØEG was born in 1985, and has a Masters degree in Danish and Philosophy. Her debut novel has been selected as the Danish contribution at the European Festival of the First Novel at Literaturhaus Schleswig-Holstein in Kiel this May.
TINE HØEG
Nye rejsende (New Passengers) Rosinante 2017, 216 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Rosinante in association with Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd. Laurence Laluyaux, l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com
“The wisdom and truth and beauty of the requiem that is Carl’s Book, is that it can accommodate both the blind alleys and the epiphanies that exist within an immense sorrow, that has no end, and as a true paradox, only becomes richer and deeper.” – Reviewer Lars Bukdahl at Weekenavisen’s award ceremony Winner of the Weekendavisen Literature Prize, Naja Marie Aidt’s genre-expanding, avant garde book is a masterful literary attempt to write about the tragic death of the writer’s 25-year-old son Carl. The book is a compilation of texts that appear like thoughts in a mind under intense emotional pressure; out of context, never fully complete, and often brutally cut off. The book’s complex form enacts the processes of rupture, and the consequent reassembly of pieces. There are short prose sections addressed to Carl, and intense passages in verse.
PHOTO: MIKKEL TJELLESEN
On her first day as a new secondary school teacher, a young woman commutes to work, and swiftly embarks on an affair with a fellow passenger, a married man. Becoming an adult doesn’t mean that all the awkward moments, doomed relationships, or bad decisions go away. It just means that you’ll still be taking the long train ride home at the end of the day.
Weekendavisen’s Literature Prize A Shattering Elegy on Death
AWARDS
NAJA M A RIE A IDT J E S P ESRU N G WUNG
NAJA MARIE AIDT was born in 1963 in Greenland and made her debut as a writer in 1991 with the poetry collection Så længe jeg er ung (While I’m Still Young). In 2006 she published her short story collection Bavian (Baboon), for which she received both the 2007 Danish Critics Prize for Literature and the 2008 Nordic Council Literature Prize.
NAJA MARIE AIDT
Har døden taget noget fra dig så giv det tilbage – Carls bog (Carl’s Book) Gyldendal 2017, 155 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Rogers, Coleridge & White Laurence Laluyaux, l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency. com SOLD TO: Finland/Schildts & Söderströms, Germany/Luchterhand, Netherlands/Querido, Norway/Gyldendal, Sweden/ Bonniers, UK/ Quercus.
De Gyldne Laurbær (The Golden Laurel) Foreignness on Display
PHOTO: JACOB NIELSEN
Interjected are passages on sorrow, in the words of past poets and literary giants.
Jesper Wung Sung’s latest novel, En anden gren (Show Me), won almost a third of the votes cast by booksellers across Denmark for the Golden Laurel Award. In 1902, Tivoli amusement park imports a group of Chinese people for an exhibition, and they become one of the major attractions in Copenhagen. Author Wung Sung draws inspiration from the alienating experience of his own great-grandfather to write the story of San and Ingeborg, whose eyes meet one day at Tivoli, leading to a scandalous love affair. At the turn of the century it’s a recipe for disaster, and as outcasts they move from town to town, eventually ending up in Berlin, on the eve of World War I. Wung Sung’s book is an epic love story, and a portrait of a resilient young woman.
JESPER WUNG SUNG, born in 1971, made his debut in 1998 with the short story collection To ryk og en aflevering (Kick ‘N Rush) for which he received the Debutant Prize. Wung Sung has since written more than 20 books for children, young adults and adults – including Ud med Knud (Boot Canute) 2014, which sold to several countries and for which he was nominated for the Nordic Council’s Children’s and YA Literature Prize.
JESPER WUNG SUNG
En anden gren (Show Me) Gyldendal 2017, 555 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Lydia Pedersen: lydia_pedersen@gyldendalgroupagency.dk PREVIOUS TITLES SOLD TO: France and Belgium/Les Éditions du Rouergue, Germany/Carl Hanser Verlag, Italy/Edizioni Piemme, Netherlands/Clavis Uitgeverij, USA/Simon & Schuster
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
BOOKS IN BRIEF FICTION
Aakeson’s black humour runs rampant in this fast-paced, humorous story of two people who have become so glued at the hip, they have a hard time swimming on their own.
This time he’s not going to give in, and buys the boat, but Susanne won’t put a foot inside. To her the whole situation is such a cliché, especially when the boat has a name like ‘Grace’. Poor Mogens reluctantly goes against sailor superstition and renames the boat, but before long, the sea gods incur their wrath. In the meanwhile, Susanne starts having conversations with a busy-body, sarcastic God, there’s an over-eager chaplain trainee at her heels, and she’s taking life lessons from her cleaning lady.
Susanne works as a Prison Chaplain. Mogens holds an unremarkable post at the Ministry of Employment. They are the kind of couple who live in a cute little townhouse, speak in ‘We’s’ and have always been together. Mogens starts thinking about retirement, and wants to buy a boat, against Susanne’s wishes. She didn’t want a dog either.
KIM FUPZ AAKESON, born 1958, is a prolific writer, screenwriter and illustrator, and has written more than 80 books for children, young adults and adults, many of them published internationally. His international breakthrough in film came when his script Den eneste ene (The One and Only) was directed by Susanne
GLUED AT THE HIP AND DROWNING
PHOTO: ROBIN SKJOLDBORG
THE NON-ROM COM
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Bier in 1999. Aakeson’s scripts have won prizes at several film festivals, including the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, and his books have received numerous awards and grants. Aakeson’s humourous stories are most often characterized by an unfaltering optimism, and a sense that things will work out in the end.
KIM FUPZ AAKESON
Bådens navn (The Boat) Gyldendal, 2018, 200 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Lydia Pedersen: lydia_pedersen@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
DANISH AUTOFICTION Vita Andersen is a Danish author who coined the cultural divide of her generation. In her latest, and deeply personal work, she turns inwards, crossing between fiction and autobiography, to explore how memories from an unhappy childhood haunt her long into adulthood. A young mother’s attempt to follow the writing success of her partner fails miserably. After another rejection letter, she takes her little girl to the harbour, with an intent to drown them both. Chaotic years follow, as the child is shifted between an unstable mother, aunts and uncles, total strangers, and institutions. The memories of a child go hand in hand with an author, who reluctantly delves into what has been overlooked and suppressed.
BOOKS IN BRIEF / FICTION
PHOTO: SUSTE BONNÉN
NOMINATED FOR THE NORDIC COUNCIL LITERATURE PRIZE 2018
VITA ANDERSEN, born 1942, is the author of numerous poetry collections and novels. She was recently nominated for the 2018 Nordic Council Literature Prize. Her breakthrough came with the poetry collection Tryghedsnarkomaner (Security Addicts) in 1977, which sold over 100,000 copies. The book had a significant cultural impact, and the well-known expression, ‘Security Addict’ is still as relevant in Danish culture today. The novel, Hold kæft og vær smuk (Shut Up and Look Good) followed soon after in 1978, where she explored similar themes. Vita Andersen’s books have been translated into several languages, and have received numerous awards, including De Gyldne Laurbær (The Golden Laurel) and the Critics Prize.
CODEPENDENCY OR LOVE? In Duvå’s story Billie, a young woman, is preoccupied with the task of caring for her alcoholic father. Her mother leaves the family early on, and from that point begin the flashbacks to a childhood spent waking her rock band-playing father from his drunken slumbers. Yet despite her humiliation and frustration as a child, her father’s thrill of being on stage becomes her own, and motivates her to continue hiding the secret of his drinking from the world. Years later, while living in
Berlin, her constant rescue mission back to her father in Copenhagen is fuelled by a mixture of powerlessness and unfailing loyalty, clashing with the condescending advice of doctors. Back in Berlin she plans to join her boyfriend on a trip to support protesters during the Arab Spring, but turns back at the last minute, to join her father after news of a collapse that ultimately leads to his death, the starting-point for the novel. LIV NIMAND DUVÅ was born in 1987, and has studied in Germany, Norway and Sweden. In 2017 she published her debut novel, Vi er vel helte (Kind of Heroes), which was awarded the Bodil and Jørgen Munch-Christensen debut prize, and was also the recipient of a Danish Arts Foundation award. The jury wrote: “The story captures us in the way it is presented, the way the characters come alive for the reader, and in the linguistic detail that sharpens the emotional conflict.” Duvå has been inspired by writers such as Imre Kertész and Marguerite Duras.
LIV NIMAND DUVÅ
Vi er vel helte (Kind of Heroes) Kronstork, 2017, 160 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Kronstork Erik Scherz Andersen: kronstork@kronstork.dk
UNSUNG HEROES OF ALCOHOLISM
“Heartbreaking fragments of memories from an unstable childhood. Reality becomes a flickering helter-skelter of sensory stimulation and racing thoughts – as the narrator’s voice withers away in front of the reader.” – Information
Indigo (Indigo) Rosinante, 2017, 349 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Rosinante in association with Rogers Coleridge and White Ltd. Laurence Laluyaux, l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com
PHOTO: PAULA NIMAND DUVÅ
VITA ANDERSEN
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE PHOTO: CHIANG MAI
CON-MAN AT THE ASHRAM
A SPIRITUAL FARCE
The only way for Nick to truly find enlightenment might be to escape the very man leading him there.
The lad-lit version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love, Fogtdal has written a humorous, heart-warming novel, with international appeal, about trying to find the meaning of life in a farcical ashram.
PETER H. FOGTDAL was born in Denmark in 1956, and now lives in Portland, Oregon. He has a degree in playwriting from Cal State Fullerton and is the author of 14 novels in Danish, including the bestseller Zarens dværg (The Tsar’s Dwarf), Lystrejsen, Drømmeren fra Palæstina (The Dreamer from Palestine) and Flødeskumsfronten (The Whipped Cream Front), for which he won the Prix Littéraire des Ambassadeurs in 2005 in France, and in Portugal the book has become suggested reading for ninth graders. Fogtdal is known for writing novels with a spiritual, mystical or humourous slant. “A properly curious work of great human value by a Danish master.” Sebastian Barry on Zarens dværg.
Nick is a Danish-American known for being a fast-talking, high-flying advertising man, until the day he decides to quit his job, and buys a ticket to Varanasi, India, to join Sri Bhakti’s ashram. Stepping into the ashram, alarm bells soon start ringing for Nick, as he walks through a cliché of tourist trap decorations, and is thrown into the endless bureacracy of registration and required merchandise, making him think he’s landed somewhere between heaven and North Korea. Before he knows it, he’s been married to a random follower, which further complicates his dreams of deep contemplation. In addition, a series of dubious miracles, and absurd occurrences, make him start to wonder if the guru is a new Jesus, or just another con-man.
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PETER H. FOGTDAL
Det store gildefald (Gods of Mango) Turbine, 2017, 331 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Turbine Forlag Hans Henrik Schwab: hhs@turbine.dk PREVIOUS RIGHTS SOLD TO: France/Gaïa, Portugal/Mercado de Letras, Ukraine/Ranok, USA/Hawthorne Books English sample translation available
FOREIGNNESS AS THEME Anita Furu draws on her grandmother’s experiences to tell the story of Ruth, a six-year-old Russian girl who is orphaned during the pogroms, when Cossacks stormed Jewish villages. Ruth and her three siblings are separated, and she is adopted by an older Jewish woman in affluent Copenhagen. Cut off from her family, Ruth’s suffering and experiences go unheard, in a time when the traumatic experiences of children are hushed. When her adoptive mother dies, Ruth follows her new step-father to Spain, until she must once again uproot, and returns to Copenhagen, with her own daughter in tow, to escape Franco and the Spanish Civil War. Back in Denmark, the good life sweeps Judaism and old memories far
THE COST OF SILENCE AND SEVERANCE
BOOKS IN BRIEF / FICTION away, and Ruth begins to assimilate, but the onset of World War II brings back fears from the past, and she flees back to Spain. Many years later, she discovers her brother’s old letters, and his offer for her to join him in America. Ruth’s life is a study in foreignness, and the continuing cycle of detaching from the past and grasping for a future.
ANITA FURU
Mit halve liv (My Half Life) Gladiator 2017, 253 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Copenhagen Literary Agency Monica Gram, monica@cphla.dk
PHOTO: ROBIN SKJOLDBORG
ANITA FURU, was born in 1962 and has studied Economics, Communication and Journalism. She has worked within state departments and has won awards for her speech writing for the former Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. Her debut novel was inspired by her family’s own story.
QUIET PROVOCATIVE DRAMA
WAITING FOR GREENER PASTURES Three former housemates, along with their partners, decide to spend a summer together on the Turkish island of Bozcaada. There’s Linn and Hermann with their three children, Ib who comes alone but becomes obsessed with the hotel’s chef, and Betty, Ernest’s much younger girlfriend, who spends much of the book waiting for him to get back from a photo expedition, documenting refugees whose bodies keep washing up along the coast.
PHOTO: MADS HOLM
Despite their attempts to relax in the heat, each one of them suffers in silence. Betty, in her idleness, annoys Linn, who in turn is overly focused on her husband, or her children; and so the cycle continues. It seems they all yearn for whatever seems greener on the other side. Højrup’s minimalist writing introduces the quiet summer days with different narrators whose surprising, often humorous, observations of each
“Thought provoking and enjoyable.” – Børsen other create a wonderful sense of momentum throughout, as well as a certain foreboding. “Nothing really happens in this book,” says one of the characters, as she tries to do a little reading on her vacation. Eventually though, even on an island, the real world will still come calling. PETER HØJRUP was born in 1974. He graduated from the Danish Academy of Creative Writing in 1997 and has a Masters in Literature. He is both an author and a translator, and worked as an editor for the literary journal Banana Split from 2000 to 2005. He published his debut novel, Så vil jeg hellere være en sø (Then I Would Rather be an Ocean) in 2001, followed by the novel Island (Iceland) in 2014. The book was a recipient of a Danish Arts Foundation award.
PETER HØJRUP
Til Stranden (To the Beach) Gyldendal, 2017, 232 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Lydia Pedersen: lydia_pedersen@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
THE GREENLAND TRILOGY: THE PREQUEL
Shaman Aappaluttoq isn’t bound to the single God of missionary Hans Egede, but when his entire family succumbs to disease, he has no choice but to bring his only son to Egede, to prevent his death. Amidst the devastation, Danes and Greenlanders struggle against each other, against nature, religious fanaticism, and all the other devils that drive people towards death. It is a battle between cultures, and between two men, fighting to keep a boy alive. Rød mand/sort mand (Red Man/Black Man) is the prequel to the best-selling Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden (The Prophets of Eternal Fjord), and a stand-alone novel. KIM LEINE, born 1961, is a DanishNorwegian author. He made his
“Leine believes in a kind of human uncertainty principle: chained to conventions we may well be, but freedom is always within reach –only don’t expect too much from it. Out of this gospel of liberating doubt he has created a wonderful book.” – Anna Paterson, World Literature Today (on Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden)
KIM LEINE
Rød man/sort mand (Red Man/Black Man) Gyldendal 2018, 528 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Jenny Thor, jenny_thor@gyldendalgroupagency.dk PREVIOUS RIGHTS SOLD TO: Over 23 countries.
250 YEARS AGO IN GREENLAND
PHOTO: ROBIN SKJOLDBORG
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PHOTO: LÆRKE POSSELT
In 1728 the King of Denmark, the ageing Frederik the 4th, seeks streets paved with gold in the icy straits of Greenland. In the name of religion, he arranges the marriage between 12 male and 12 female convicts, and ships them off to establish the colony of Godthåb (Nuuk). Chaos quickly ensues as the convicts die of tuberculosis and other diseases, and the native population is ravaged by measles.
literary debut in 2007 with the semiautobiographical novel Kalak (Kalak), followed by two more novels. After working as a nurse in Greenland for 15 years, he wrote the first novel of his historical trilogy set in Greenland, Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden (The Prophets of Eternal Fjord) in 2012. The book sold to over 20 countries, and was awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2013, De Gyldne Laurbær, Politiken’s Literature Prize, Weekendavisen’s Literature Prize and the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s Novel of the Year Award. The novel was also recently shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award in 2017. He has received the Danish Arts Foundation three-year grant.
THE BROKEN CONNECTION Inspired by the architecture of Alice Munro’s short story writing, Caroline Albertine Minor is recognised for her narrative technique, and the depth and subtlety of her language. Deemed one of the most promising short story writers in Denmark today, in her latest work the author delivers seven superb short stories, narrated by seven women, all dealing with the grief that follows death or the loss of someone close, and the attempt to overcome or live with that grief. The everyday lives of people are filled with small mysteries, and it is unfathomable why we feel compelled, within our minds or sometimes physically, to pursue some of these mysteries, while we release ourselves from others. In one of the stories in this collection, a young exchange student in Australia hangs herself two days before Christmas. We learn more about her
BOOKS IN BRIEF / FICTION
NORDIC CANNIBAL Anne Rice and Stephen King meet Norse mythology in Anne-Marie Vedsø Olesen’s latest fantasy novel, spelling the possibility of an exciting new trend within the fantasy genre; one full of brutal surprises, Nordic Gods and a dangerous love affair.
NOMINATED FOR THE NORDIC COUNCIL LITERATURE PRIZE 2018
life in another story later in the book. Then there’s Helena, whose father is dying, and whom she visits in France. Yet he barely appears in the story; he has no wish to see her. CAROLINE ALBERTINE MINOR was born in 1988, and studied at the Danish Academy of Creative Writing. She published her debut novel, Pura Vida (Pure Life) in 2013. Her short story collection, Velsignelser (Blessings), won the Michael Strunge Prize, known as the Danish Literary Author’s ‘difficult second book’ prize, in 2017. The book was also recognised by the Danish Arts Council and nominated for Weekendavisen Literature Prize.
Under the cover of a deafeningly loud heavy-metal concert, Lucie lures a young man into her tent, and devours him. Momentarily satisfied, and filled with the life essence of her victim, she slips back into the crowd, this time finding herself drawn to the mysterious ex-stock broker Casper. On a trip to a Copenhagen with Casper they end up in a secret drug den. High on opium, Lucie suddenly experiences a flashback from her past which holds the key to understanding her 1,000 year immortality. When fantastical creatures interfere with her plans of a mission to the North of Norway to investigate her origins, she and Casper not only have to outwit a series of Nordic Gods, they have to outrun the police, who are on the trail of a cannibalistic killer.
ANNE-MARIE VEDSØ OLESEN, born 1962, had her debut in 2000, with her medieval set novel Salernos Sol (Salernos’ Sun), after which she left her career as a doctor to pursue writing full-time. Her writing covers a wide spectrum of genres, including historical novels, fantasy, and thrillers. In 2012, she published the Gudestrom (Godstorm) trilogy, about the Egyptian god of chaos, Seth. The same year, she published the novel Glasborgen and the operetta, Orkestergraven (The Orchestra Pit). In 2013, she published the first book in an action-packed renaissance trilogy about Madeleine de Montdidier, Dronningens dame (The Queen’s Lady), followed by Bastarden (The Bastard) in 2015 and Modersken (Murderess) in 2016. She is a keen fan of both classical music and heavy metal, which often figure in her stories.
ANNE-MARIE VEDSØ OLESEN
Lucie (Lucie) Politiken, 2018, 384 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Politiken Literary Agency Rudi Rasmussen, rudi.u.rasmussen@jppol.dk PREVIOUS TITLES SOLD TO: Bulgaria/Matcom, Czech Republic/Brana Publishing, Russia/ Ripol Classic
NEW DANISH FANTASY WITH NORDIC MYTHOLOGY
“…Superb new Danish prose…” – Kristeligt Dagblad
CAROLINE ALIBERTINE MINOR
PHOTO: ROBIN SKJOLBORG
Velsignelser – noveller (Blessings – short stories) Rosinante, 2017, 237 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Rosinante in association with Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd. Laurence Laluyaux, l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
ART AS ALBATROSS MOST COURAGEOUS BOOK OF THE YEAR
PHOTO: PR FOTO
KURDISH WOMAN’S STORY This is the story of Frmesk, a Kurdish girl adopted by her maternal grandparents to protect her from her father’s violence, and from infant circumcision. It is also the story of Gawhar, Frmesk’s maternal grandmother, who washes the dead bodies of the ‘disgraced’ women no one else will bury. Frmesk grows up in the loving and intellectually openminded home of her grandparents, and witnesses the thin line her grandmother must tread in the face of religious fanaticism, superstition and the oppression of women, in order to give the dead women a peaceful end and burial. Frmesk’s grandparents are a pillar of hope and courage, but it is ultimately not enough to safeguard Frmesk.
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SARA OMAR, born in 1986, grew up in Iraqi Kurdistan, but had to escape because of the war at the end of the 1990s. She holds a Masters in Political Science, and is part of the Expert Advisory panel for Arts & Globalization. She is also a board member of a number of Danish women’s organisations and groups. A selection of her poems was published by Danish PEN in 2016. This is her debut novel. “A shocking and courageous debut novel.” – Ekstra Bladet
SARA OMAR
Dødevaskeren (Dead Washer) Politiken, 2017, 336 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Politiken Literary Agency Rudi Rasmussen, rudi.u.rasmussen@jppol.dk SOLD TO: Norway/Aschehoug, Sweden/Polaris, Serbia/Presing
PHOTO: ROBIN SKJOLDBORG
Omar captures the bleakness of a little Kurdish town with its raging sandstorms, the fear of an entire ethnic group terrorized by Saddam Hussein’s soldiers, and the unbelievable brutality people exhibit towards their own blood. Frmesk’s story is framed by Darya, a young Muslim nursing student in Denmark, who is
apprehensive about the likelihood of an arranged marriage. Darya cares for Frmesk, gradually uncovering the reason the young woman ended up in the hospital. As the story concludes, Frmesk is forced to go into hiding; her vengeful father has got wind of her location. As she disappears, her shocking story is a powerful warning to Darya, and the readers.
Stefan Bak Dalgaard has always wanted to be something, to accomplish something meaningful. In the meantime, he walks around hating himself because, however much he tries, he just can’t seem to catch a break. He has put everything into becoming a writer, but is starting to suspect that things might not go as he had hoped. His publisher, and best friend, is busy with newer, younger writers and poets, and the grants are drying up. He has also become a father, he’s starting to get headaches, and his mother-in-law is constantly on his back. One evening, Stefan meets an old friend from his college days at a pub, and the question arises: Was Stefan ever really meant to be an artist? Or should he drop it all, and accept an offer to join The Stress Company, a consultant group, who are in it just for the money.
BOOKS IN BRIEF / FICTION PHOTO: SOFIE KLOUGART
NIKOLAJ ZEUTHEN, was born in Cambridge in 1977, with his family later moving to Denmark. Zeuthen is a writer, poet, cartoonist, and musician. He made his literary debut in 2000 with Paxbjergs Trylledigte (Paxbjerg’s Magic Poems). In 2010 he published a graphic novel, Hvad synes du om dansk litteratur? (What Do You Think About Danish Literature?), for which he received an award from the Danish Arts Foundation. He has published six titles, including novels, short stories and poetry collections.
MOTHER’S GONNA PUT ALL OF HER FEARS INTO YOU
“A zealous, satirical portrait of a generation.” – Nordjyske
NIKOLAI ZEUTHEN
Buemundetguitarfisk (Bowmouth Guitarfish) Rosinante, 2018, 224 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Rosinante in association with Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd. Laurence Laluyaux, l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com
COMING OUT STRONG SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY CLICHÉS OF OUR TIME
For all those who think coming out as a lesbian, especially in liberal Denmark, is a piece of cake, Christina Skov proves it takes enormous character, especially in connection with her own mother. An avid journalist and writer, Skov’s novels often deal with the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters, yet for over 20 years she struggled to write her own story; the story of a loveless childhood, and her mother’s life-long estrangement, especially after she came out. Yet this is no misery memoir. Leonora Christina Skov remains straightforward and unsentimental, examining with judicious objectivity what happened and how she herself has moved forward. It is the story of growing up in a ‘nice’ dysfunctional family, and about the determination and hope to find love – at last.
LEONORA CHRISTINA SKOV, born in 1976, has a Masters in Literature. Previous to her latest book, she has published five novels, including Hvor intet bryder vinden (Where Nothing Stops The Wind), from 2015. She is a literary critic and book reviewer for the newspapers Politiken and Weekendavisen, and has received the Danish Art Foundation’s three-year grant for her writing. Leonora Christina Skov is a leading advocate for the LGBT community in Denmark. In 2008 she was named Rainbow Person of the Year. “A real page-turner… will knock you off your feet.” – Jyllands-Posten
LEONORA CHRISTINA SKOV
Den, der lever stille (The Quiet Sense of Something Lost) Politiken, 2018, 374 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Politiken Literary Agency Rudi Rasmussen, rudi.u.rasmussen@jppol.dk PREVIOUS TITLES SOLD TO: Czech Republic/ Brana, Germany/ btb Verlag, The Netherlands/ De Bezige Bij
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
MATTERS OF FAITH AND REASON At 16, Blaise Pascal reinvented geometry. Before he was 30, he had constructed the first mechanical calculator, and introduced probability theory. Who was the remarkable, rebellious young genius who would later give his name to ‘Pascal’ computer language and game theory? Looking at how superstition and the supernatural played a part in Blaise Pascal’s early life, and his eclectic father’s unique form of home schooling, Koch delves into the idea of genius itself, to present why Pascal’s intelligence and creativity were unique and remarkable. Neither mathematician nor physicist, Pascal had no single preferred passion, and flowed freely between disciplines. He spent his time elucidating the half-formulated ideas of others, and later dedicated his rather short life (he would die at 39) to writing about
religious speculation, casting light on issues regarding human spirituality that were later fundamental to Søren Kierkegaard. CARL HENRIK KOCH, born 1938, is a Doctor of Philosophy and science historian. He is the former Dean at the University of Copenhagen, Vice-President of The Royal Danish Science Society, and a member of, among other things, the State Humanities Research Council. Koch is the author of numerous historical works and textbooks, including the five volume Den danske filosofis historie (The History of Danish Philosophy) 2002-2004, and a long list of acclaimed biographies on, among others, Descartes, Niels Stensen, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and Baruch Spinoza. Koch’s dynamic historical portraits offer an entertaining, in-depth look at the lives of philosophers and thinkers, while also providing a human story.
CARL HENRIK KOCH
Pascal – matematik og mirakler (Pascal – mathematics and miracles) Lindhardt og Ringhof, 2017, 472 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Lindhardt og Ringhof Nya Guldberg, nya.guldberg@lrforlag.dk
PASCAL – REMARKABLE GENIUS
PHOTO: RIGMOR MYDTSKOV
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PHOTO: ANDREAS BERGMANN
NON-FICTION
FROM ONE ENLIGHTENMENT TO ANOTHER Despite the global doom and gloom of political prognoses, or navel-gazing trends like the ‘selfie’, Nørretranders encourages us, in his latest book, to look up (from our phones), to think independently, to think of others, and to have an optimistic view of the future. Nørretrander’s viewpoint is firmly grounded in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and a number of new scientific studies that reveal a whole new side to human beings as ‘forward-thinking creatures’ who can change the world through our ability to imagine and look ahead. The book takes a turn into the evolution of mankind’s enlightenment, from the origins of the French Revolution to the establishment of the social welfare state, as well as offering an inspiring tour of man’s tireless exploration of the universe. In addition, Nørretranders looks into ‘mind-wandering’, the current buzzword of neuroscience, that shows how the human brain is a
BOOKS IN BRIEF / NON-FICTION
THERAPEUTIC AND POETIC RUNNING Anders Legarth Schmidt’s narrative non-fiction piece cleverly collides the intensely raw experience of a man overcoming the loss of a child with a technical guide to running.
MAN IS A FORWARD THINKING CREATURE
natural predictor, that is constantly reviewing the world and its potential. TOR NØRRETRANDERS, is an acclaimed non-fiction writer in the field of popular science, and a columnist for leading Danish daily and weekly newspapers. He has held numerous academic positions, including Director of the Mindship Foundation (1995-96) and has been Adjunct Professor of the Philosophy of Science at Copenhagen Business School since 2003. His landmark study of consciousness, Mærk verden (The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size) from 1999, found a wide, international readership, including Japan, Germany, Holland, Romania and the USA.
As his child lay dying of cancer, and doctors were at a loss to provide any hope of recovery, Schmidt describes how his mind raced to save his child. The period after his daughter’s death feels like being at war, with flashbacks and constant doubt bringing him back to the same paralyzing fear. Anders, who had always been an avid runner, set off running only ten hours after his daughter’s death. Yet instead of an escape, running literally becomes a way to track down his original connection to his child, before the sickness and pain overshadowed everything. The physical endurance of running gives him the mental resilience to arrive at the conclusion that getting past a debilitating sorrow is not the same as forgetting – it is having the strength to remember. In
a series of 48 columns selected from his blog on running, Schmidt’s deeply personal prose is about the intersection between life and death, and the taboo of death. Schmidt’s blog posts take him through 5.30am jogs in Copenhagen, up Himalayan mountainsides, and down isolated roads in Morocco. The columns gathered here were so widely read and shared on social media that the Royal Theatre decided to create a performance based on their content. ANDERS LEGARTH SCHMIDT, born in 1974, has been a journalist at the Politiken newspaper since 2003, with a focus on psychology and health. His reporting has been nominated three times for the Cavling Prize, including the 2016 nomination for his series about patients at a closed Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, north of Copenhagen. Schmidt also wrote a widely read blog about running for two years, titled Jeg løber (I Run), which was the basis for this book.
ANDERS LEGARTH SCHMIDT
Jeg løber (I run) Politiken, 2018, 192 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Politiken Literary Agency Sigrid Stavnem: sigrid.stavnem@jppol.dk
NARRATIVE NON-FICTION
“Nørretrander’s vision of a new Age of Enlightenment is encouraging and contagious.” – Information
TOR NØRRETRANDERS
PHOTO: JAN GRARUP
Se frem (Look Ahead) People’s Press, 2017, 424 pages (including photos and illustrations) FOREIGN RIGHTS: The Susijn Agency Ltd. Laura Susijn: laura@thesusijnagency.com PREVIOUS TITLES SOLD TO: 19 countries English sample translation available
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
THE REAL THING –FOR BETTER OR WORSE PHOTO: GYLDENDALS BILLEDBIBLIOTEK & SUSANNE MERTZ
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TOVE DITLEVSEN
Tove Ditlevsen is a striking authorial voice, whose work all Danes come across at some point in their school days. In her books about growing up, marriage, motherhood, and drug abuse, she pinpoints life’s contrasts and captures the essence of our times, making her writing immediate and relevant, even 100 years after her birth. Here the all-female artist collective Sort Samvittighed present the work that went into transforming Tove Ditlevsen’s life and work into an award-winning stage performance which has played to sold-out venues and been revived several times.
ESSAY BY LEILA VESTGAARD, SORT SAMVITTIGHED TRANSLATED BY SOLVEJ SCHARLING TODD
In 2015 our artist collective, Sort Samvittighed, premiered the show “Tove! Tove! Tove!” at the Danish Royal Theatre – a music infused and avant-garde interpretation of the late author Tove Ditlevsen’s life and work. Most of us in the group were familiar with Tove Ditlevsen’s writing from our school days, and some of us had read a little beyond that as well, but none of us were well-versed in either her full oeuvre or the many aspects of her persona. Nevertheless, none of us had any doubts. Both her writing and her life make for excellent material; she was an interesting and unusual woman.
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE Work on the performance started in the autumn 2013, when all of us from Sort Samvittighed systematically went through and read everything about and by Tove Ditlevsen, and tried to work with the texts in a physical space, while attempting to understand and approach that very special human being whom we were attempting to interpret. Along the way, we realized it was impossible to separate Tove Ditlevsen from her writing. She reflects it, she evokes it. She is the embodiment of her work. Tove Ditlevsen (1917-1976) was a working class girl with great expectations that extended far beyond the little community of Vesterbro in Copenhagen where she grew up. She had a complicated relationship with her mother, who Ditlevsen felt never really understood her. Things were easier with her father; he was a sensitive person who liked to read. Ditlevsen was married and divorced four times, the first time to an editor of a literary journal 30 years her senior. She never shied away from admitting that it was a strategic attempt to climb the social (and cultural) ladder. She made her literary debut, according to plan, during the years she and her first husband were together. Curiously, she lied about her age, vainly thinking it would be more remarkable to have one’s debut at 21, than at 22. Over the course of three subsequent marriages, she gave birth to three children and adopted one more, lapsed into drug addiction, made her name as a widely-loved author, experienced great and euphoric love, and was admitted to a closed psychiatric
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ward several times (where she still kept up her work as the somewhat conservative advice columnist for Familie-Journalen, a women’s lifestyle magazine). She struggled to find a sense of balance in a life with such varied and conflicting interests – balance between family life and a career, between artist and person – and struggled too with a constant fear of not being good enough for high society, finding it difficult to be with other people yet impossible to remain alone. She couldn’t make it work. In 1976 she committed suicide. Tove Ditlevsen lived to write and wrote to live. Even in the middle of all the misery and tragedy, which she cultivated in her own reckless way, she was always the life of the party and a true pleasure seeker, with an enormous appetite for life and men. She was both traditional and free-spirited, ahead of her time and old-fashioned. Those contrasts, which she embodied in everything she did, have been central to Sort Samvittighed’s dramatization of her life and work. Ditlevsen defined herself as a person who wanted to have it both ways, who wanted everything all at once. That certainly isn’t a bad place to start. Neither for living one’s life to the fullest, nor for devising a piece of theatre. Another thing that struck us was her honesty. Her raw, unpolished, merciless – and thereby also provocative – honesty. She could put into words utterly terrible truths about herself (and about others): “You don’t lose the right to
TOVE DITLEVSEN simple, naïve, banal, true. The real thing – for better or worse. That is what Tove Ditlevsen showed us, and that is what we give our audiences. It is what Tove Ditlevsen offers those who open her books.
Our performance is set up like a musical collage, or a kaleidoscope. Five players wearing the same costume – or uniform, if you will – step in and out of certain ages and interactions with people from Tove’s life. There is the child Tove, who circles around the grownup Tove; Tove’s mother; Tove’s children, and the many different sides of Tove. It is the complete story of Tove Ditlevsen – all of her words – but it is also the eternal story of mothers and daughters, or mothers and their children. It is a show about inadequacy, betrayal, weakness, and love, about not having enough energy for all of this and wishing oneself away, for just a brief moment of peace. Timeless. Authentic. Tove Ditlevsen let loose and wasn’t afraid of showing her less attractive sides to the world. That in itself was a pleasure to work with; we experienced how it opened up for the imperfections and inadequacies that are familiar to most of us. She also reminded us of the thrill of doing creative work, and we were spurred on to cosset our art – and our families. For us, she was equal parts inspiration and warning. Pure emotion, grand gestures and humour work well theatrically within the format we have created. When something dares to be
Members of the artist collective, Sort Samvittighed, include: Jeanett Albeck, Rikke Bilde, Sara Åkerlund Clemmensen, Ida Marie Ellekilde, Signe Fabricius, Tilde Maja Fredriksen, Elisa Kragerup, Kitt Maiken Mortensen, Signe Egholm Olsen and Leila Vestgaard. TOVE DITLEVSEN was born in 1917, and is one of the most notable literary figures in Denmark. She had her debut in 1939, with a poetry collection entitled Pigesind (A Girl’s Mind). She is especially well known for her autobiographical novel, Barndommens gade (Childhood’s Street) from 1943, but she also gained a popular following as an advice columnist for a Danish women’s magazine. She received many prizes throughout her life, including De Gyldne Laurbær (the Danish booksellers’ award) in 1956. ‘Tove-fever’, the enduring admiration for her works and person, has most recently resulted in both a theatre performance and Gyldendal’s recent publication of Der bor en ung pige i mig,som ikke vil dø (A Young Girl Lives in Me Who Doesn’t Want to Die) in 2017, a selection of Ditlevsen’s poems, in connection with the 100th year anniversary of her birth. Ditlevsen’s work has been translated into more than ten languages.
PHOTO: XXXXX
PHOTO: NATASCHA THIARA RYDVALD
die, just because you’re a mother.” No, perhaps you don’t, but it’s unbearable to hear someone say it out loud.
TOVE DITLEVSEN
FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Lydia Pedersen: lydia_pedersen@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
In general, good science fiction or speculative fiction captures some deep trauma or confusion of the age. In Kaspar Colling Nielsen’s latest literary novel, Det Europæiske forår (The European Spring), there is literally a divide between people – in two separate colonies – and a dissonance towards democratic values. Known for his provocative, dystopian social satires, Kaspar Colling Nielsen was awarded the Holberg Medal in 2017, for this disturbing fabulation of two parallel social experiments, conducted in a not too distant future. The Holberg Medal is named after the 18th century Danish-Norwegian writer Ludvig Holberg, who satirized the intellectual elite of his day under the cover of pre-science fiction. His engaging underground world, and protagonist Niels Klim, could both entertain and reflect the human follies of his day. Staying true to the science fiction genre, Colling Nielsen solidly frames the dystopian fantasy of his two colonies with scientific exactitude, and bases his
A NORDIC TALE OF TWO CITIES 20
KASPAR COLLING NIELSEN
“An absurd and funny crossover between a Golden Age painting and a dystopia.” LITTERATUR.NU, DENMARK
ideas around hard-core economic and social theories. Examined here are the shockingly grotesque and tragi-comic scenarios of simple humans, set in the dronefilled world of the privileged or the scattered, rusty camps of the outcasts.
PHOTO: ISAK HOFFMEYER
PHOTOS: ISAK HOFFMEYER
Europe stands at the precipice at the turn of the century. A group of internationally renowned researchers and entrepreneurs establish a technologicallyadvanced community for the affluent in a remote area of Denmark. Neuroscientist Elisabeth is headhunted by the community because of her previous successes with animal experiments, and she brings along her disillusioned art gallery owner husband, Stig, and their anorexic daughter Emma. After a series of terror attacks in Copenhagen, Denmark deports thousands of Muslim refugees to a guarded area in Mozambique, where they are housed in discarded Danish shipping containers. While Elisabeth compromises her ethics in her work with a novel-writing ape called Felix, the idealistic Emma longs for something life-affirming. She leaves her dysfunctional family and takes off to the new Danish colony in Africa, to work as a volunteer. In the meantime, Stig’s belief in art is revived when he is shown some work by Christian, a
painter in the community, of human bodies decomposing and being reclaimed by nature. At the same time, Christian is motivated by his encounters with the mentally disabled, lascivious young Mia. A sudden accident gives Stig the idea for a crazy new art project, one that could bring art to a whole new level – and obliterate people’s personal boundaries. KASPAR COLLING NIELSEN, born in 1974, made his debut in 2011 with Mount København (Mount Copenhagen) and in 2013 published the sequel, Den Danske Borgerkrig 2018-24 (The Danish Civil War 201824). The sequel was shortlisted for the Politiken newspaper’s Readers’ Book Award in 2013 and the Berlingske newspaper’s Readers’ Book Award in 2014. His novels are both part novel, part short story collections.
ROMAN GYLDENDAL
KASPAR COLLING NIELSEN
Det europæiske forår (The European Spring) Gyldendal 2017, 348 pages FOREIGN RIGHTS: Salomonssen Agency Anna Carlander: anna@salomonssonagency.com RIGHTS SOLD TO: Czech Republic/Zlin, Denmark/Gyldendal, Estonia/Varrak, Germany/ Heyne, Norway/Cappelen Damm, Sweden/ Mondial
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
The Inger Christensen Archives In May, 2018, Gyldendal will publish the long-awaited and newly curated complete, 700 page archive of Inger Christensen. Longstanding Gyldendal Publishing Director, Johannes Riis, wrote the foreword to a short compilation from the archives published this December, under the title Som var mit sind lidt grÌs der blev fortalt (As Though My Mind Was the Story of a Piece of Grass). The compilation spans 50 years of her life and work, and Riis offers an insight into the delicate process of assembling a life’s work, as well as shedding new light on a wellregarded writer and poet.
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INGER CHRISTENSEN
There are the sudden heights and the abyss that comes with them And within words the dizzying organs And each channel is a river in itself There are earthly goods and unsteady bells in their towers There is an earth more easily moved to tears SOM VAR MIT SIND LIDT GRÆS DER BLEV FORTALT TRANSLATED BY SUSANNA NIED, 2018
Inger Christensen was not easy to get to know; but occasionally – too seldom, I realize now – I would phone and invite her to come in and visit me at Gyldendal. Yes, she’d like that; she would come by; we would have a glass – or two – of white wine and – until illness forced her to quit – she would smoke a couple of cigarettes; and we would talk about matters great and small, not so much about literature, preferably not about her own work, and absolutely not about whether she was working on anything new; that was a subject she wanted no part of. She hadn’t published anything new since
Sommerfugledalen (Butterfly Valley), which had come out way back in 1991. It was clear that she did want to write and be published, so one day I summoned my courage and suggested that she must have something among her papers that we could bring out. “You can do that when I’m dead,” she said flatly. We didn’t talk about it again. On January 2, 2009, Inger Christensen died. On May 21, 2015, I received an email from Swedish poet Marie Silkeberg. I didn’t know her, but I did know that she had published highly praised translations of works by, among
others, Inger Christensen. The message said that she had received access to Inger Christensen’s papers at the Royal Library in Copenhagen; she had gone through them thoroughly and had taken photos of many, and now she would like to come by and show me a bit of what she had found in the numerous boxed file folders. She had an idea. Reading that message, I suddenly found myself on the edge of my seat. I replied right away, and we set up an appointment. The anticipation was palpable as she pulled her laptop out of
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE its case, opened it, and showed me a small selection of what she’d found. It was a treasure trove. There was material from as far back as the early sixties, when Inger Christensen was first published, and throughout the ensuing 40 years; there were poems, some completely finished, signed in Inger Christensen’s firm, confident, slanting hand; there were lectures and articles, forewords and introductions; there was a lengthy fragment of a novel; there were drafts and random thoughts, some handwritten, some typed; there were drawings and endless diagrams with letters on graph paper; exercises and starts, all with Inger Christensen’s completely unmistakable hallmarks – a person doesn’t need to read much by Christensen before realizing who wrote it – and I was astonished and moved, and
could find nothing adequate to say. There was no question that this material had to be made available to Christensen’s many readers and admirers. We began talking about how it should be done. First of all, we came up with two essentials: • We had to make sure that Peter Borum, Inger Christensen’s son and literary executor, supported the idea of publication, and • Marie Silkeberg wanted to participate in publishing the materials, but preferred to work with a co-editor. So it was agreed that Marie Silkeberg and Peter Borum would meet in my office; we wanted control over how the editing would take place, and especially over who might be considered for the position of co-editor.
Marie Silkeberg came, Peter Borum came, and he told us that he and his mother had jointly gone through all her papers before they were turned over to the Royal Library, and before we knew it, Peter Borum had proposed himself as co-editor. For both Marie and me, it was as if all the pieces had fallen into place in the most natural possible pattern. This Christmas volume is the first result of Marie Silkeberg’s and Peter Borum’s collaborative work with Inger Christensen’s papers, a forerunner to a larger volume of Inger Christensen’s papers that we look forward to publishing in the spring of 2018. Now, with pleasure, pride, and gratitude, Gyldendal welcomes you to Inger Christensen’s world.
BOOK FOREWORD, JOHANNES RIIS TRANSLATED BY SUSANNA NIED, 2018
INGER CHRISTENSEN was born in 1935, and is an internationally recognized poet. Christensen’s main works include the poetry collection Lys (Light) 1962, Græs (Grass) 1963, Alfabet (Alphabet) 1981, and Sommerfugledalen (The Butterfly Valley) from 1991. She has been honoured many times throughout her lifetime, and in 2001 she became a member of the Académie Européenne de Poésie (“European Academy of Poetry”). She was also a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Christensen’s work has been translated into fifteen languages.
INGER CHRISTENSEN ILLUSTRATION BY INGER CHRISTENSEN FROM THE BOOK
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FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Lydia Pedersen: lydia_pedersen@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
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HANNE-VIBEKE HOLST Som Pesten (Like the Plague)
Danish bestseller Hanne-Vibeke Holst’s latest novel is a literary medical thriller reminiscent of John le Carré’s The Constant Gardener. When a fatal flu breaks out, Karoline Branner, doctor and coordinator for the WHO Department of Pandemics and Epidemics in Geneva, has to mastermind a plan to stop the spread of the disease, but various political players have their own agenda and economic interests. A multi-plotted story of an outbreak, and about the people who fight it, suffer from it, make money on it, or politicise it. FOREIGN RIGHTS: Copenhagen Literary Agency, Monica Gram, monica@cphla.dk SOLD TO: Norway/Gyldendal Norsk/Nordisk Film Production A/S, Sweden/Albert Bonniers
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE LASSE HOLM
Lodbrogsønnernes hævn (The Revenge of the Viking Sons)
The first book in a thrilling new trilogy about the early Viking age, based on real events and old Norse sagas about Ragnar Lodbrog, the legendary Viking hero and ruler. The year is 866, and Ragnar Lodbrog’s sons vow revenge for their father’s death at the hands of King Ælla of Northumbria. As they raid yet another set of villages in the north of England, they take a boy named Wulf prisoner and rename him Rolf. The battles continue in their vendetta against King Ælla, but can Rolf convince the sons that the king is innocent, in time to prevent a massacre? FOREIGN RIGHTS: Politiken Literary Agency, Sofie Voller, sofie.voller@jppol.dk SOLD TO: Czech Republic/Dubrovsky, Russia/AST, Spain/Destino
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MACEDONIA
DIOPTRA KATRINE ENGBERG KROKODILLEVOGTEREN / BLODMÅNE
ANTOLOG JUSSI ADLER-OLSEN FASANDRÆBERNE
HUNGARY EDITION POLAR KAREN BLIXEN SIDSTE FORTÆLLINGER
ICELAND FORLAGID ANNE METTE HANCOCK LIGBLOMSTEN UGLA PUBLISHING ELSEBETH EGHOLM SELVRISIKO
ISRAEL SANAD THORKILD HANSEN DET LYKKELIGE ARABIEN
ITALY MARSILLO ANNA GRUE DEN SKALDEDE DETEKTIV SALANI & PONTE ALLE GRAZIE & NORD JENS HENRIK JENSEN DE MØRKE MÆND / DE HÆNGTE HUNDE / DE FROSNE FLAMMER
LITHUANIA KITOS KNYGOS KIM LEINE PROFETERNE I EVIGHEDSFJORDEN
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BEGEMOT JONAS T. BENGTSSON ET EVENTYR
NETHERLANDS BRUNA KATRINE ENGBERG KROKODILLEVOGTEREN / BLODMÅNE KARAKTER UITGEVERS JESPER STEIN PAPA
NORWAY ASCHEHOUG LONE ABURAS DET ER ET JEG DER TALER SARA OMAR DØDEVASKEREN CAPPELEN DAMM KASPAR COLLING NIELSEN DET EUROPÆISKE FORÅR ANNA GRUE DE VOKSNES RÆKKER GYLDENDAL NORSK HANNE-VIBEKE HOLST SOM PESTEN KIRSTEN THORUP ERINDRING OM KÆRLIGHEDEN KAGGE FORLAG SUZANNE BRØGGER KORAL
POLAND GRUPA HELION SA JENS HENRIK JENSEN DE MØRKE MÆND / DE FROSNE FLAMMER
ZYSK KATRINE ENGBERG KROKODILLEVOGTEREN / BLODMÅNE PETER HØEG EFFEKTEN AF SUSAN
PORTUGAL 20|20 EDITORA SARA BLÆDEL ALDRIG MERE FRI / HÆVNENS GUDINDE
ROMANIA CASA C R II DE TIIN HELLE HELLE DETTE BURDE SKRIVES I NUTID
RUSSIA AST KAREN BLIXEN DEN AFRIKANSKE FARM LASSE HOLM LODBROGSØNNERNES HÆVN KOMPASGUIDE PUBLISHING HOUSE BJARNE REUTER PRINS FAISALS RING
SERBIA PRESING JAN SONNERGAARD FRYSENDE VÅDE VEJBANER
SLOVAKIA AKTUELL JUSSI ADLER-OLSEN FASANDRÆBERNE / KVINDEN I BURET
SLOVENIA UCILA INTERNATIONAL JENS HENRIK JENSEN DE MØRKE MÆND / DE FROSNE FLAMMER / DE HÆNGTE HUNDE
SOUTH KOREA EUNHAENGNAMU MOMO ANE RIEL HARPIKS
SPAIN DESTINO LASSE HOLM LODBROGSØNNERNES HÆVN DUOMO EDICIONES JENS HENRIK JENSEN DE MØRKE MÆND / DE HÆNGTE HUNDE / DE FROSNE FLAMMER
SWEDEN ALBERT BONNIERS HANNE-VIBEKE HOLST SOM PESTEN MERETE PRYDS HELLE FOLKETS SKØNHED BECHS FORLAG KAREN BLIXEN ALKMENE OG SORG-AGRE / DEN UDØDELIGE HISTORIE FÖRLAG SEKWA ANNE CATHRINE BOMANN AGATHE ERRATA NATURAE EDITORES KIRSTEN THORUP ERINDRING OM KÆRLIGHEDEN MONDIAL KASPAR COLLING NIELSEN DET EUROPÆISKE FORÅR MODERNISTA AB KAREN BLIXEN SYV FANTASTISKE FORTÆLLINGER POLARIS MICHAEL ENGGAARD SVÆKLING
RECENTLY SOLD VICTOR BOY LINDHOLM Guld (Gold)
Victor Boy Lindholm received rave reviews for his debut, ‘hyper-modern’ poetry collection. His narrator plays on the bling aesthetic of hip hop culture – but it’s the hip hop of the white middleclass, full of pop culture combined with ennui, materialism and political correctness. FOREIGN RIGHTS: Forlaget Kronstork, Erik Scherz Andersen: kronstork@kronstork.dk SOLD TO: Germany/Nord Verlag
STORYSIDE AB (Audio rights) SARA BLÆDEL GRØNT STØV / KALD MIG PRINSESSE / KUN ÉT LIV / ALDRIG MERE FRI
TURKEY DO AN KITAP LONE THEILS / PIGERNE FRA ENGLANDSBÅDEN
UK CENTRALA (ENGLISH, POLISH, CZECH) MIKKEL SOMMER STRANNIK LINE HØJ HØSTRUP THE MATTER WE’RE MADE OF HANDHELD PUBL. EDDIE THOMAS PETERSEN ØNSKEBARNET MIRROR BOOKS JESPER STEIN PAPA / AISHA / AKRASH / URO / BYE BYE BLACKBIRD NORVIK PRESS SUZANNE BRØGGER EN GRIS SOM HAR VÆRET OPPE OG SLÅS KAN MAN IKKE STEGE
USA DUTTON/ PENGUIN JUSSI ADLER-OLSEN WASHINGTON DEKRETET
IPI PRESS JUAAKA LYBERTH GODT I VEJ NEW DIRECTIONS INGER CHRISTENSEN UDVALGTE ESSAYS SOHO PRESS AGNETE FRIIS SOMMEREN MED ELLEN SPUYTEN DUYVIL KNUD SØRENSEN UDVALGTE NOVELLER BENNY ANDERSEN UDVALGTE DIGTE TWO LINE PRESS BJØRN RASMUSSEN HUDEN ER DET ELASTISKE HYLSTER DER OMGIVER HELE LEGEMET
FILM RIGHTS
NORWAY NORDISK FILM PRODUCTION A/S HANNE-VIBEKE HOLST SOM PESTEN
USA
NONFICTION
ARABIC DAR ALMADA JOAKIM GARFF SAK. EN BIOGRAFI
BRAZIL BESTSELLER SVEND BRINKMANN STÅ FAST
CROATIA OCEANMORE JESPER JUUL DIT KOMPETENTE BARN
JAPAN FOREST PUBLISHING MALENE FRIIS ANDERSEN & MARIE KINGSTON STOP STRESS
NORWAY CAPPELEN DAMM BRAND&BØLLING FOOD PREPPING SOFIE MÜNSTER KLOG ER NOGET, MAN ØVER SIG PÅ / KÆRLIGHED ER IKKE NOK FONT FORLAG LOTTE HVAS OVERGANGSALDEREN
FINLAND
GYLDENDAL NORSK FORLAG SUZY WENGEL SENSE – SLANK MED FORNUFT
OTAVA ANJA TAKACS PERLEDYR
FORLAGET PRESS SVEND BRINKMANN GÅ GLIP
ITALY
POLAND
RAFFAELLO CORTINA EDITORE SVEND BRINKMANN STÅ FAST
WYDAWNICTWO WAM SVEND BRINKMANN STÅ FAST
PROFILE PICTURES KAREN SYBERG TOVE DITLEVSEN: LIV OG MYTE
ZYSK JENS HØVSGAARD SPIONERNE DER KOM IND MED VARMEN
JAN SONNERGAARD
Frysende våde vejbaner (Caution Icy Roads)
There are those who don’t deserve to be rich, and those who don’t deserve to be poor. A contemporary novel, about a welfare state in decline, and a Copenhagen where the meek are disinherited. 50 year old Jesper gets a violent wake up call with the sudden death of his childhood friend Henrik. Alone in his apartment, red from his job and entering a midlife crisis, he sees no way out, until he meets the beautiful and mysterious Julia. Hard-boiled realism with a humourous romance. FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Jenny Thor, jenny_thor@gyldendalgroupagency.dk SOLD TO: Serbia/Presing
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE JOAKIM GARFF
SAK – en biografi – Søren Åbye Kierkegård (SAK – A Biography – Søren Åbye Kierkegård)
As part of Gads Forlag’s biography series, Joakim Garff’s prize winning biography about Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), offers an introduction to Kierkegaard’s history and his ideas. SAK presents the major events of Kierkegaard’s life, but also investigates the cracks beneath the genius, and the cost of his writing, both economically and psychologically. FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gads Forlag, Henrik Sebro, hs@gad.dk RECENTLY SOLD TO: Arabic/Dar Almada
RUSSIA
TURKEY
EXMO MALENE FRIIS ANDERSEN & MARIE KINGSTON STOP STRESS
LETI IM YAYıNLARı SVEND BRINKMANN STÅ FAST
CHILDREN´S BOOKS
UK
BRAZIL
CLEARVIEW MIKKEL KARSTAD EVERGREEN
COMPANHIA DAS LETRAS GLENN RINGTVED GRÆD BLOT HJERTE
SWEDEN
POLITY SVEND BRINKMANN GÅ GLIP
BULGARIA
BONNIER FAKTA JESPER JUUL DIT KOMPETENTE BARN
ROUTLEDGE POUL LUNDGAARD BAK ROBUSTHED
NATUR OCH KULTUR JEANETTE VARBERG MENNESKET HAR ALTID VANDRET
USA
SPAIN EDITORIAL SÉNECA UFFE DAMBORG MINDFUL SPISNING
NORSTEDTS SVEND BRINKMANN GÅ GLIP SUZANNE BRØGGER NORSK OMELET
ROUTLEDGE POUL LUNDGAARD BAK ROBUSTHED
POLARIS SUZY WENGEL SENSE – SLANK MED FORNUFT RABÉN & SJÖGREN ANJA TAKACS PERLESJOV
DAMYAM YAKOV PUBLISHERS OLE LUND KIRKEGAARD GUMMI – TARZAN
CHINA ANHUI CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING HOUSE IB SPANG OLSEN IB SPANG OLSENS BEDSTE / FLERE AF IB SPANG OLSENS BEDSTE SVEND OTTO S. H.C. ANDERSENS BEDSTE EVENTYR / GRIMMS BEDSTE EVENTYR BEIJING DIPPER PUBLISHING CO., LTD. BIRDE POULSEN HER ER 1 ELEFANT /DEN LILLE FRÆKKE ELEFANT / SE MIG / SOV NU! / MIN / MOR, HVOR ER DU?
JENS HØVSGAARD
Spionerne der kom ind med varmen (The Spies That Came in From the Cold)
The story of the controversial gas pipeline Nord Stream, and how Vladimir Putin and a group of former KGB and Stasi agents bribed, spied and blackmailed politicians all the way to the Prime Minister level in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Denmark, and about how those very politicians let themselves be bought by the Russians, for their own political or personal gain. Based on the author’s extensive research, the book also provides a rare insight into Putin’s early years in Saint Petersburg and East Germany, and how those early connections became an important resource for him. FOREIGN RIGHTS: Rosinante in association with Rogers, Coleridge & White Ltd., Laurence Laluyaux, l.laluyaux@rcwlitagency.com SOLD TO: Poland/Zysk
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BEIJING HUAXIA WINSHARE BOOKS CO. LTD. KIM FUPZ AAKESON HVIDT OG BLIDT OG KRIDT HUNAN JUVENILE & CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING HOUSE BIRDE POULSEN LILLE KROKODILLE SERIEN (10 TITLES) KATRINE MARIE GULDAGER & KIRSTEN RAAGAARD ANTON SERIEN (5 TITLES) KING-IN-CULTURE SØREN LIND & HANNE BARTHOLIN HISTORIEN OM ALTING
CZECH REPUBLIC ALBATROS MEDIA LENE KAABERBØL VILDHEKS 1-3
FAROE ISLANDS BÓKADEILD FØROYA LÆRARAFELAGS GUNVOR REYNBERG JAGTEN PÅ BENNY
GERMANY DRESSLER VERLAG KRISTINA AAMAND FOR ENDEN AF DIN PEGEFINGER
RECENTLY SOLD GLENN RINGTVED
Græd blot hjerte (Cry Heart, But Never Break)
Winner of the 2017 ALA Batchelder Award (American Library Association literary award for “most outstanding” children’s book translated into English and published in the U.S). Aware their grandmother is gravely ill, four siblings make a pact to keep death from taking her away. Death shows up eventually, and while they prolong his visit by offering a cup of coffee, he shares a story that helps them see the value and importance of being able to say goodbye. FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Jenny Thor, jenny_thor@gyldendalgroupagency.dk SOLD TO: China/Petrel Publishing House, Japan/Imajinsha, Kosovo/KOHA, Mexico/Editorial Santillana, Romania/Grupul Editorial Art, Ukraine/Vydavnytstvo, USA/Enchanted Lion Books, Vietnam/ThaiHaBooks
KULLERKUPP BOLATTA SILIS-HØEGH AIMA OETINGER VERLAG SALLY ALTSCHULER HR. BABELS TÅRN
GREENLAND IPERAQ.COM JENS SIGSGAARD PALLE ALENE I VERDEN
ITALY GALLUCCI LENE KAABERBØL VILDHEKS 3 SINNOS RASMUS BREGNHØI OPFINDELSER, STRIKKEDE HUER OG EN DUM KAT
JAPAN ASUNARO SHOBO KIM FUPZ AAKESON SÅ BLEV FARFAR ET SPØGELSE
KOSOVO KOHA GLENN RINGTVED FOR SENT! / GRÆD BLOT HJERTE / GODNAT, SAGDE KATTEN
MEXICO LEETRA SØREN LIND & HANNE BARTHOLIN HISTORIEN OM DIG
NETHERLANDS MIDDERNACHT PERS SØREN LIND & HANNE BARTHOLIN HISTORIEN OM DIG
NORWAY ASCHEHOUG SVEND OTTO S. GRANTRÆET
GYLDENDAL NORSK FORLAG KRISTINA AAMAND & ELISABETH KIERTZNER OMAR, BRUNO OG MUSSA 4 – MISSION BYE BYE, BASSEMAND
SOAP MALENE ABILDGAARD & JULIE DUFOUR BYG, LEG OG LÆR MED ALVERDENS ARKITEKTER
VIGMOSTAD & BJØRKE JAKOB MARTIN STRID PÆRELETTE OPGAVER / DEN UTROLIGE HISTORIE OM DEN KÆMPESTORE PÆRE
SWEDEN
RUSSIA ALBUS CORVUS SALLY ALTSCHULER NOAS SKIB
SERBIA KREATIVNI JAKOB MARTIN STRID DEN UTROLIGE HISTORIE OM DEN KÆMPESTORE PÆRE
SOUTH KOREA KAIRYUDO PUBLISHING CO. LTD. KIM FUPZ AAKESON SÅ BLEV FARFAR ET SPØGELSE
HEGAS PETER GOTTHARDT & SUSSI BECH KONG ARTHUR SANNE HAUGAARD VAX ER VÆK LILLA PIRATFÖRLAGET SABINE LEMIRE MIRA I NATUR OCH KULTUR HANNE KVIST DYR MED PELS OG UDEN NYPON FÖRLAG KIM FUPZ AAKESON & RASMUS BREGNHØI MOGENS OG MAHDI (Rights: Swedish, Arabic, Dari and Somali) STABENFELDT KIRSTEN SONNE HARRILD PJOK OG PETRINE – EN PONY I PRÆMIE
KIM FUPZ AAKESON
Hvid og blidt og kridt (White and Bright and Bite)
For ages 5-9, a book about making a deal with the toothfairy – take not one but two loose teeth – in exchange for an annoying little sister. A fantastic and funny story, that has all the elements of losing a tooth that kids recognise the world over, but this time the tooth fairy is a chubby little fairy in a tulle skirt and stilettos, who isn’t going to give back little sister without a fight. FOREIGN RIGHTS: Gyldendal Group Agency, Jenny Thor, jenny_thor@gyldendalgroupagency.dk SOLD TO: China/Beijing Huaxia Winshare Books
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
SUPPORT SCHEMES THE DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION’S COMMITTEE FOR LITERARY PROJECT FUNDING WORKS TO PROMOTE DANISH LITERATURE AT HOME AND ABROAD AND HELPS FACILITATE LITERARY EXCHANGE PROJECTS BETWEEN DENMARK AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAMME Support may be provided to foreign publishers, heads of festivals and the like who want to acquire an insight into contemporary Danish literature and visit Danish publishers, festivals etc., to strengthen networks and dialogue between the Danish and international literary partners. There is no application deadline, and applications will be processed as quickly as practicable.
SAMPLE TRANSLATION FUND Foreign translators, theatres, and publishers may apply for support to finance sample translations of Danish literature. There is no application deadline, and applications will be processed as quickly as practicable.
TRANSLATION FUND
APPLICATION GUIDELINES, DEADLINES AND ELECTRONIC APPLICATION FORMS MAY BE OBTAINED AT DANISHARTS.DK
CONTACT:
THE DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION’S COMMITTEE FOR LITERARY PROJECT FUNDING LITT@SLKS.DK WWW.DANISHARTS.DK 30
Support is provided to foreign publishing houses and theatres that publish works translated from Danish. Support is provided for translation costs of fiction, non-fiction works of general cultural interest, comics/graphic novels, children’s and YA literature and theatre plays translated by professionals. Support is also provided for production costs in relation to illustrated works. There are two annual application deadlines.
NORDIC TRANSLATION FUND: INTER-NORDIC TRANSLATIONS The fund is open to Nordic publishers wishing to publish a work translated from Danish to a Nordic language. Support for translations into Danish must be sought from within the country in which
SUPPORT SCHEMES
SAMPLE TRANSLATION FUND
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROGRAMME
TRANSLATION FUND
THE DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION SUPPORT SCHEMES
DANISH LITERATURE ABROAD
the respective work was originally published. The funds for Nordic translations are distributed on behalf of Nordic Culture Point’s Culture and Art Programme under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Internordic production grants can be applied for under the fund for Translation and Production. There are three annual application deadlines.
NORDIC TRANSLATION FUND
LITERARY EXCHANGE FUND
translators of Danish literature in connection with residencies in Denmark. There is no application deadline, but trips must not have started at the time the application is made. Applications will be processed as quickly as practicable within a month.
DANISH LITERATURE ABROAD LITERARY EXCHANGE FUND Support may be provided to defray travel expense in connection with a Danish author’s / illustrator’s participation in literary festivals, readings and publication events abroad, if there is a formal invitation to promote a publication. Support may be provided to foreign authors travelling to Denmark on the same basis. In addition travel grants can also be awarded translators of Danish literature to a meeting with the Danish author. Danish authors and illustrators can apply for travel costs in connection with residencies abroad and
Subsidies for literary events and marketing Danish literature abroad. Applications for subsidies are accepted from foreign publishers, diplomatic representations abroad, cultural institutions and others who wish to promote and increase knowledge about Danish literature outside Denmark. Applications are processed as quickly as possible within four weeks. Projects with a budget of more than 25,000 DKK must expect a longer processing time of approximately three months from the time of application.
31
THE DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION WORKS TO PROMOTE ART IN DENMARK AND DANISH ART ABROAD. THE DANISH AGENCY FOR CULTURE AND PALACES IS THE ADMINSTRATIVE ARM OF THE DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION. www.danisharts.dk
subscribe to danish literary newsletter ORGANISATIONS DANISH WRITERS OF FICTION AND POETRY
THE DANISH WRITERS ASSOCIATION
was founded in 1991 and has approximately 200 members.
is Denmark’s oldest professional association for writers and translators. It was founded in 1894 and has approximately 1350 members. The association includes the Danish Translators Association. df@danskforfatterforening.dk / www.danskforfatterforening.dk
kontor@skoenlit.dk / www.skoenlit.dk
THE DANISH PLAYWRIGHTS’ AND SCREENWRITERS’ GUILD (founded in 1906) is an association for theatre, radio, television and film scriptwriters. It has approximately 300 members. admin@dramatiker.dk / www.dramatiker.dk
THE DANISH BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION is a trade association for Danish booksellers. The association has approximately 380 members and represents 90 % of all Danish booksellers. ddb@bogpost.dk / www.boghandlerforeningen.dk
THE DANISH PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION (founded in 1837) is a trade association for individuals and firms involved in the publishing industry. The association accounts for approximately two-thirds of the overall turnover from Danish publications, including multimedia. danskeforlag@danskeforlag.dk / www.danskeforlag.dk
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY Danish Arts Foundation’s Committee for Literary Project Funding
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
TEXT AND INTERVIEW
CONTACT US
Annette Bach aba@slks.dk
Solvej Todd
Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces / Literature H.C. Andersens Boulevard 2 1553 Copenhagen V Denmark Tel. +45 3373 3373 litt@slks.dk
DESIGN EDITORS
NR2154
Marie Starup msta@slks.dk Søren Beltoft sbe@slks.dk
Rosendahls
ISSN 1904-240X
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY THE DANISH ARTS FOUNDATION’S COMMITTEE FOR LITERARY PROJECT FUNDING. THE MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED TWICE A YEAR. DANI SHARTS.DK
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