DANISH ARTS COUNCIL
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DEBUTANTS Stine Pilgaard Alen Meškovic´ Erik Valeur Bjørn Rasmussen Olga Ravn
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The Danish Arts Council works to promote art in Denmark and Danish art abroad. The Danish Literature Centre is the adminstrative arm of The Danish Arts Council’s Committee for Literature. www.danisharts.dk
The articles in this edition are written by Lotte Kirkeby Hansen, a journalist with an M.A. in literature. The articles and extracts are translated by Charlotte Barslund. Olga Ravn’s poem is translated by Thomas E. Kennedy. Cover photo by Casper Sejersen
Danish Literary Magazine is Published by The Danish Arts Council’s Comittee for Literature www.kunst.dk Editor-in-Chief Annette Bach annbac@kunst.dk Editor Søren Beltoft sorbel@kunst.dk Editorial Assistant Lars Sidenius Design NR2154 LA Graphic Design PRINT Green Graphic Contact us Kulturstyrelsen / Literature H.C. Andersens Boulevard 2, 1553 Copenhagen V, Denmark Tel. +45 3374 5065, litteratur@kunst.dk
Contents
p. 4
NEWS FROM DENMARK p. 10
AWARDS p. 14
Debutants p. 22
RECENTLY SOLD p. 30
HERMAN BANG p. 34
BOOKS IN BRIEF p. 38
SUPPORT SCHEMES p.40
ORGANISATIONS
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Ida Marie Rendtorff
A.J. Kazinsk
Elsebeth Egholm Anja Hitz
Kenneth Bøgh Andersen
Peter Griffin Bødker & Bruun
Josefine Ottesen
Jakob Knudsen
News Denm
Camilla Hübbe & Rasmus Meisler
Kim Leine
Mette Finderup
Jakob Martin Strid
Jens Christian Grøndahl
Mikkel Birkegaard
Merete Pryds Helle
Helle Vincentz
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Helle Helle
& Morten Søndergaard
Lars Daneskov Erik Valeur
NEWS FROM DENMARK
ki Anna Grue
Lene Kaaberbøl
Christian Jungersen
Kim Fupz Aakeson
Agnete Friis
Thomas Clemen
Pia Juul Benni Bødker
Ida Jessen
Mikkel Sommer
from mark Johanne Algren
Astrid Saalbach
Katrine Marie Guldager
Josefine Klougart
Stine Pilgaard
Bjørn Rasmussen Omar Tarek Harald Voetman
Alen Mešković Erik Barfoed
Jakob Melander
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Spring used to be a quiet season for the Danish publishing industry. But no longer. This year, spring sees the launch of an impressive list of books that give readers the chance to reacquaint themselves with old favourites and meet a group of exciting new writers for both adults and children. Danish Literary Magazine has chosen a selection of this spring’s new publications and we also offer a sneak preview of what will be coming up this autumn New books in successful Danish crime series Every time sceptics claim that the Scandinavian crime wave is fizzling out, successful new authors emerge. Among these are Danish crime writers who will publish this spring and early this autumn volumes two, three or four in series that have already sold well both in Denmark and abroad. They include the partnership of Bødker and Bruun, who are about to publish the second volume in their series about the forensic anthropologist, Linnea Kirkegaard Før døden lukker mine øjne (Before death closes my eyes). (Modtryk, foreign rights: Leonhardt & Høier). The journalist Helle Vincentz has just published the second volume in her series about the career woman Caroline Kayser, Den filippinske pirat
The Filipino Pirate an international thriller about piracy, terror and global corruption (Rosinante, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency).
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More established crime writers are also in the spotlight in 2012, including Liv Mørk with the family crime saga Næsten levende
polarised world, (Modtryk, foreign rights: Lars Ringhof Agency), Jakob Melander with Øjesten
Apple of one’s eye
Barely alive
which begins during World War II where the Italian fascist Pier Francesco Banci and his fiancée Elisa look forward to a bright future.
(Rosinante, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency) and
Jakob Knudsen, who makes his debut with the crime novel Håbefulde hjerte - en Kristian Swane-krimi (Hopeful heart - a Kristian Swane crime novel), the first volume in a proposed series featuring the head of the Danish National Police’s murder squad.
(Politikens Forlag, foreign rights: Leonhardt
There is also a new book from Elsebeth Egholm, who has written another volume in her series featuring journalist Dicte Svendsen, who has a unique talent for placing herself in the eye of the storm De døde sjæles nat (The night of the dead souls). (Politikens Forlag, foreign rights: & Høier).
Leonhardt & Høier).
This spring also sees the arrival of new crime writers such as Thomas Clemen with Langs smertegrænsen
(People’s Press, foreign rights: People’s Press).
In late summer comes a new book by the two authors writing under the name, A.J. Kazinski, Søvnen og døden
Sleeping and dying
Along the pain threshold
a follow up their hit, Den sidste gode mand (The last good man). (Politikens
a thriller about biological weapons and global political power play in a
US/UK & film rights: Lars Ringhof Agency).
Forlag, foreign rights: Leonhardt & Høier/
NEWS FROM DENMARK
Other news this autumn includes Anna Grue, who will be publishing volume five in her series about the bald detective, Dan Sommerfeld (Politikens Forlag, foreign rights: Lars Ringhof Agency),
Lene Kaaberbøl, who will shortly bring out Det levende kød
Living flesh
the second volume in her Kadaverdoktor-series, (Modtryk, foreign rights: Lars Ringhof Agency) and Agnete Friis and Lene Kaaberbøl, who will be publishing the fourth volume in their series about the Red Cross nurse Nina Borg (People’sPress, foreign rights: People’sPress).
Wild witches and terrifying futuristic visions Just as Danish and international readers enjoy reacquainting themselves with their favourite detectives, children take pleasure in the familiar universe which a series creates. Among Denmark’s successful children’s series writers, Lene Kaaberbøl has made a name for herself both abroad and at home with her Skammerpigen-series. Kaaberbøl is mentioned above for her new crime novel and the new crime novel written in collaboration with Agnete Friis. However, Kaaberbøl also has treats in store for her younger fans; children who are old enough to read for themselves. Kaaberbøl’s Vildheks (Wild Witch) series earned
her a nomination for IBBY’s highly regarded H.C. Andersen Award.
up from Mette Finderup, whose novel Smertensbarn (Problem child) forms part one of her trilogy, Den grønne ø
(Alvilda, foreign rights: Lars Ringhof Agency).
This spring also sees new volumes in series written by Kenneth Bøgh Andersen, who with Helte og Skurke
Heroes and villains has reached the sixth volume in his Antboy-series, (Høst & Søn, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency), while Johanne Algren will be launching the sequel to Louis 211092-2922, namely Louis liv
The green island (Gyldendal, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency) as well as from Ida Marie Rendtorff, who with Kloden under vand
Planet Louis’s under water is also launching a new trilogy,
Life
where Louis falls in love with Serkan, who wants her to leave her destructive life behind her. (People’sPress, foreign rights: People’sPress).
Josefine Ottesen is also offering readers a follow up to her book, I vendernes vold
At the mercy of the Wends volume two of her Danerriget-series (Høst & Søn, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency). There are brand new series coming
(Gyldendal, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency).
Another new writer is Peter Griffin, whose book, Server is a futuristic vision set in 2030, where the internet and the mobile phones has disappeared in a war, but a server hides all the secrets of the old world. (Politikens Forlag, foreign rights: Politikens Forlag). If you are one of those people who enjoy being scared then Lindhardt & Ringhof ’s Creepy Nightmare Stories comes highly recommended. Stories include Spiders by Lars Bøgeholt Petersen and Ghost by Benni Bødker, who also writes crime fiction for adults.
The Danish market has also seen a rising interest in graphic novels where writers such as Kim Fupz Aakeson, Erik Barfoed and Mikkel Sommer are in the news with De gale 7
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
The madmen (Høst & Søn, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency) as well as Camilla Hübbe and Rasmus Meisler, who have cowritten Tavs
Family life is a popular theme in books for very young readers and the arrival of a new baby inevitably causes upheaval. This is the central plot of the third volume in Katrine Marie Guldager’s series about Lydia: Lydia får en lillesøster
Silent Lydia gets a Høst & Søn, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency).
Giant pears and stepfamilies for the youngest readers who enjoy picture books and stories read aloud to them, there is a new book from Jakob Martin Strid, who with Den utrolige historie om den kæmpestore pære
The incredible story about the giant pear is back on his usual appealing form. (Gyldendal, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group
Another old favourite is Kim Fupz Aakeson, who has collected together an impressive number of his picture books in one volume illustrated by Rasmus Bregnhøi and published under the title Fupz’ og Bregnhøis største hits
Agency).
Fupz’s and Bregnhøi’s greatest hits (Carlsen, foreign rights: Lindhardt og Ringhof).
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baby sister
(Carlsen, foreign rights: Lindhardt & Ringhof)
and in Lars Daneskov’s book Mor har en baby inde i maven
Mummy has a baby in her tummy
where the author explains pregnancy at a level suitable for very young children (Politikens Forlag, foreign rights: Politikens Forlag). Modern family life is also examined in words and pictures by writers such as Anja Hitz, who explores life in a step parent family for very young children in her book Mig og min papfamilie
Me and my stepfamily Store flyttedag
The big moving day is the second volume in her series, (Høst & Søn, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency).
News from the fiction front The Danish writer Merete Pryds Helle is a multi-talented woman. With her husband, Morten Søndergaard, she writes crime fiction under the pseudonym Liv Mørk, she has also written Denmark’s first iPad novel Begravelsen (The Funeral) and in addition this spring she has published her e-mail correspondence in Kære Mai
Dear Mai The book consists of e-mails to her best friend, Mai, written during the years the author, her husband and children lived in Italy, (Politikens Forlag, foreign rights: Politikens Forlag).
Merete Pryds Helle belongs to a generation of strong women writers in their forties, several of whom are mentioned in this magazine. They include Helle Helle and her novel Dette burde skrives i nutid
This should be written in the present
NEWS FROM DENMARK
see Awards, Ida Jessen with Ramt af ingenting - En glemmebog
Grøndahl, who in his new novel, Før vi siger farvel
Hit by nothing a book of forgetting
Before we say goodbye
see Books in Brief, as well as Pia Juul, whose forthcoming 50th birthday is celebrated with the publication both of short stories and poems, see Books in brief.
Another strong female voice is that of the novelist and playwright Astrid Saalbach, who like the writer Christian Jungersen, examines the human brain - and how life is turned upside down when things go wrong with it in her latest novel, Fordrivelsen
The expulsion During a skiing holiday a successful businessman suffers a brain injury which will change both his and his family’s lives. (Gyldendal, foreign rights: Leonhardt & Høier). In Christian Jungersen’s novel Du forsvinder
You disappear a brain tumour changes the personality of a headmaster and makes his wife question their entire life together.
see also Books in brief,
(Gyldendal, foreign rights: Leonhardt & Høier).
Love in spite of everything is the central theme for Jens Christian
explores the relationship between two very different people: Indian Barbara who has grown up in provincial Denmark and the older photographer, Marcus. Neither of them tends to form close ties with other people, but a special bond grows between them - despite their individual need for security and their restlessness. (Lindhardt & Ringhof, foreign rights: Wylie Agency). Favourable reviews and sales figures as well as great expectations await Erik Valeur’s Det syvende barn
The seventh child see Debutants and Awards, Kim
Leine’s Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden
Among the younger writers, recent months have seen strong books by Stine Pilgaard, Bjørn Rasmussen and Alen Mešković, all mentioned in our debutants feature, as well as Omar Tarek, who like Mešković is one of the new voices with a nonDanish ethnic background. Tarek made his debut with the short story anthology, MuhameDANEREN
The Muslim Dane
which portrays a number of broken lives in the new multicultural Denmark). (Politikens Forlag, foreign rights: Politikens Forlag). There is also important new work from Josefine Klougart, who has brought out her fourth book, Én af os sover
One of us is asleep
Prophets from the Fjord of Eternity The flesh
see Books in brief and from Harald Voetman whose experimental novel, Kødet letter
see Books in brief, as
well as Mikkel Birkegaard’s Fra drømmenes bog
From the book of dreams
takes off
is a comedy about two office workers tormented by unspoken longings at a tallow factory in Copenhagen. (Gyldendal, foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency).
see Books in brief.
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R a smBjørn usse n
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Va l
Erik eur
Birgithe KosOvic´
Helle Helle Understated masterpiece awarded the Danish Booksellers’ Award
Photo: Sacha Maric
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Helle Helle has won the Danish Booksellers’ Award, The Golden Laurels 2011, for her novel Dette burde skrives i nutid (This should be written in the present). The prize was awarded for the first time in 1949 and previous winners include Karen Blixen, Inger Christensen, Peter Høeg, Carsten Jensen, Christian Jungersen, Hanne-Vibeke Holst and Jussi Adler-Olsen.
Helle Helle has been called the great realist of our time and with her underplayed precision she invites the reader right into her characters’ consciousness. In her latest novel the central character in her minimalist everyday
AWARDS
Jan K at i n a z
Vibeke Grønfeldt
Helle Helle
drama is a young woman, Dorte, who doubts what she wants or is capable of. She makes her living writing songs for family parties, but dreams of becoming an author. She decides to go to university, but spends more time in shopping centres than attending lectures. Dorte finds herself in constant commute between various men and between her rented house in a drab provincial town and student life in the capital. “Why do we read Helle Helle’s novels about lonely, sleepless women and their apparently uneventful lives in dull railway
towns with the same obsession as if they were tense thrillers?” asked Politiken’s literary critic before awarding the book six out of six stars. He went on to answer his own question: “We’re so engrossed in her books that we devour each page greedily despite Helle’s sparse use of plot to retain her readers’ interest. Resistance is useless. Once you’ve started, you can’t stop.” Helle Helle made her debut in 1993 and her books include the novel Rødby-Puttgarden (RødbyPuttgarden) (2005), which sold more than 30,000 copies in Denmark
and which was awarded the Danish Critic’s Prize, and Ned til hundene (Going to the dogs) (2008), which won her a nomination for the Nordic Council Literature Prize as well as being labelled Bergmanesque by the French literature magazine Lire. Helle Helle was awarded the 2009 PO Enquist Award. Read more about Helle Helle in the autumn 2011 issue of Danish Literary Magazine Dette burde skrives i nutid / (This should be written in the present). Samleren 2011, 160 pp. Previous titles published in: The Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Foreign Rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Sofie Voller, sofie_voller@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
sophistication and a great range of linguistic expression.”
Photo: Isak Hoffmeyer
Birgithe Kosovic´ Sophisticated account of the Balkan civil war comes top in vote Readers across Denmark voted the novel Det dobbelte land (Mirror Lands) the winner in the contest for the Danish Bank’s major prize for literature 2011. The three nominees: Sven Holm, Anne Lise MarstrandJørgensen and Birgithe Kosovi had been selected by an expert panel. When explaining their decision to award the prize to Birgithe Kosovi for her personal account of the Balkan civil war, the panel said
“Birgithe Kosovic´ depicts the human consequences of the civil war in the former Yugoslavia with insight, artistic 12
Birgithe Kosovi is half Danish, half Yugoslavian and has always known that one day she would write the story of her father’s family in Yugoslavia. In Det dobbelte land she delivers a deeply felt and at times shocking insight into one of the great horrors of our time through her portrayal of the central character, Milovan. Milovan is fleeing Croatian nationalists, yet still tries to attend his wife’s funeral. While he does so, he looks back at his life and the choices and events which made him who he is. Milovan’s personal story is interwoven with that of Yugoslavia’s which has shaped the trajectory of his life. Birgithe Kosovi made her debut in 1997 with the novel Legenden om Villa Valmarana (The Legend of Villa Valmarana) and has since published Om natten i Jerusalem (Night in Jerusalem) (1999). Det dobbelte land was also awarded Danmark Radio’s fiction award 2011 and Weekendavisen’s Literary Prize 2010. Read more about Birgithe Kosović´ in the autumn 2010 issue of Danish Literary Magazine Det dobbelte land / (Mirror Lands), Gyldendal 2010, 254 pp. Previous titles published in: France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Foreign Rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Karen Vad Bruun, karen_bruun@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
Erik Valeur Debut writer wins awards for epic novel about children, parents and abandonment This year the Weekendavisen’s Literary Prize 2011 went to the first-time writer Erik Valeur and his novel Det syvende barn (The seventh child). The prize was first awarded in 1980 and recent recipients include Kosovi for Det dobbelte land and Anne Lise Marstrand-Jørgensen for Hildegard. The award winner is chosen by the newspaper’s readers who vote for a list of ten candidates selected by the paper’s literary critics.
‘The seventh child’ is the story of seven children all born in the same maternity ward, but subsequently adopted. Most of the children have no
AWARDS
idea of their past, but one of them has a secret that can bring down governments. “Your book, Erik, is driven by a universal and existential pain which most readers can relate to and with which many will identify: growing up without your parents’ love and being abandoned by the very people who never could or should abandon you,” it was said during the awards ceremony. Erik Valeur and his debut novel also received the Danish Bank’s major prize for literature 2011. Read more about Erik Valeur in the feature about Danish debutants in this magazine Det syvende barn / (The seventh child) Politikens Forlag 2011. 696 pp. Sold to: Germany, Holland, Norway and Russia. Foreign Rights: Politikens Forlag, Nya Guldberg, nya.guldberg@jppol.dk
Bjørn Rasmussen Assured first-time writer snatches the award from established authors For the first time the Montana Literature Prize has been awarded to a first-time writer, Bjørn Rasmussen, for his novel Huden er det elastiske hylster der omgiver hele legemet (The skin is the elastic sheath that surrounds the entire body). The award was instigated in 2007 by the newspaper Information and Testrup Højskole and is awarded to a Danish work of fiction which innovates or succeeds portraying reality in a new and surprising way.
“Bjørn Rasmussen has written an outrageous prose debut which flaunts every convention in fewer than one hundred pages. It’s shocking, quivering, fragile and assured in its use of language,” wrote the paper’s literary critic when reviewing the novel about 15-year-old Bjørn who lives at a riding school in the countryside with two brothers and a mother who suffers from depression. He struggles with his own secret homosexuality and destructive thoughts. But when he falls in love with a riding instructor twenty years his senior, a unique
sadomasochistic love affair begins which will have far-reaching consequences. Other writers nominated for the award include Helle Helle and Janina Katz. Read more about Bjørn Rasmussen in the feature about Danish first-time writers in this magazine Huden er det elastiske hylster der omgiver hele legemet / (The skin is the elastic sheath that surrounds the entire body), Gyldendal 2011, 92 pp. Foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Jenny Thor, jenny_thor@gyldendalgropuagency.dk
Janina KatZ / Piotr Topperzer
Vibeke Grønfeldt & Janina Katz The two Danish nominees for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2012 are Vibeke Grønfeldt and Janina Katz. Vibeke Grønfeldt, whose books have previously been published in Estonia, France and Norway has been nominated for her novel Livliner (Lifelines) (Samleren 2011), while Janina Katz has been entered for her poetry anthology Skrevet på polsk (Written in Polish) (Rosinante 2011). Janina Katz has previously been published in Poland. Foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Jenny Thor, jenny_thor@gyldendalgropuagency.dk
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DEBUTANTS
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
STINE PILGAARD Alen MeškoviC´ ERIK VALEUR BJØRN RASMUSSEN OLGA RAVN
DANISH DEBUTANTS
Every year some thirty to forty Danish writers make their debut. Danish Literary Magazine would like to introduce five of them. Their range is vast as is their talent: from the brick-sized epic page-turner about the abuse of power and neglected children via a coming-of-age novel with musical and Bosnian roots to a delicate and elegant poetry antholog y about so much more than the female for m.
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Photo: Per Morten Abrahamsen
Stine Pilgaard MY MUM SAYS ( Min mor siger ) A young woman moves back home to her father at his vicarage. She has just broken up with her lover. She has hit a wall with her studies. She has nowhere to live. But she does have a mother who has yet to learn to keep her opinions to herself and stop interfering in her daughter’s life. In a series of brief scenes with a limited cast: the father, the estate agent mother, a friend, the ex-lover and a potential new one, the stepfather, the stepmother and a put upon and understanding doctor, Stine Pilgaard employs misunderstanding as her poetic engine and lets her characters speak at cross purposes in her charming and chatty book. While the novel’s first person narrator gets drunk, eats too much junk food, talks on the telephone and tries to get over the break up with her female lover, other characters continue to speak around her in a dialogue which every critic has highlighted as entertaining, stylistically confident and highly talented. The main character is placed at the centre of events like a target and is, at times, a passive victim of the opinions of those around her, not only her mother’s, but also her friend’s, Mulle, who acts as a spokesperson for her personal life. Combined with Stine Pilgaard’s assured dialogue, this approach creates a refreshingly different and twisted tale of a broken love affair. “A hugely promising, subtle and funny first novel,” wrote one critic.
Excerpt from
MY MUM SAYS My mum comes into the living room and says she just wanted to know if I have made an appointment with the careers guidance adviser yet. I said that I tried calling five times, but didn’t get through. ‘They’re busy because it’s Christmas,’ I say, ‘people panic.’ My mum helps herself to some of the sweets dad and I are making. ‘It’s for the homeless,’ my dad says. My mum says that
Stine Pilgaard, born in 1984, studies Danish at the University of Copenhagen and trained at the Danish Writers School, Forfatterskolen. Min mor siger (My mum says), Samleren 2012, is her first novel. Foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Sofie Voller, sofie_voller@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
she feels sorry for the homeless, she really does, but don’t forget being homeless means they have no bills to pay, either. Then I eat the slightly misshapen marzipan pieces which I make a little uneven on purpose. ‘We can’t sell them at the Church’s Christmas fair,’ I point out to my dad,
Olga Ravn
‘and, anyway, I’m homeless now.’ ‘Christ, how you moan,’ my mum says, ‘don’t you ever get tired of listening to yourself.’ My mum says I need to watch that I don’t turn into an obese scrounger who will never get a proper job. ‘Your ex-wife
how far do the borders of reasonableness go, I need a firm hand, I always decide everything, how far do the borders of a nature reserve go,
looks confused. My mum bites the head off a little
Continues...
marzipan man that I have made.
is suggesting that I’m fat,’ I say to my dad. He
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Alen Mešković UKULELE-JAM “Welcome to Danish literature’s modern history!” wrote an excited critic about Alen Meškovi ’s first novel about Miki, a 15-year-old boy with uncontrollable, free range hormones. It is the summer of 1992, it is hot and the scantily clad girls lie on the beach below the Croatian refugee camp where Miki shares just fourteen square metres with his parents. While his traumatised father listens to the radio and his mother mourns his older brother, Neno, who is in a Serbian prison camp, Miki tries to find himself in a cocktail of uncertainty, grief and bravado. He tries to keep the conflict at bay by partying and listening to heavy metal music while he stubbornly insists that there is a future, namely his kind of world and preferably in Sweden where many of his friends fled when the war between Croats and Serbs broke out in earnest. Meanwhile, his parents dream of returning to their old lives in Bosnia. Alen Meškovi captures the narcissistic world of the teenager with great linguistic energy and underlying anger and allows it to clash awkwardly and beautifully with the war-torn reality that he depicts with conviction. His believable and tragicomic coming-of-age novel caused Danish critics to compare him with writers such as J.D. Salinger, Karl Ove Knausgaard and Nick Hornby.
Excerpt from
UKULELE-JAM The next morning I woke up late, sat on the bed and studied the white scar on my foot.
It had happened.
Last night it seemed unreal to me and incompatible with the bay, the beach and room 210. But it really
did happen. The scar on my left foot proved it. A stray grenade had fallen and later more would fall. We were captured and taken to Serbian territory. Mum, dad and I were all handed over to the Bosnian ar my. Neno was driven off in another direction.
Through the wall we could hear the neighbours arguing. My parents pottered about in our room. My
mum was mending my dad’s shirts. The buttons didn’t match. It was a problem. I traced the small arc of the scar with my index finger and climbed back under the blanket. Last night’s conversation still lingered in my body. As did the two large beers I had drunk. My head felt heavy and sore, vulnerable somehow.
I wondered if it was what they call a hangover.
I got up and stretched my ar ms. My mum passed the shirt to my dad and he put it on.
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DEBUTANTS
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
... the borders of the body can stand in place of any other border,hunger strike is not a symbol but a repetition on another scale, all the time the firm hand has to tell, all the time authorities inform me: I decide too much, it is a girl mindfuck, it is a small small, it is a small in a child voyeur, for a long time I doubted whether I had been abused as a child because I vaguely remembered that my father had bathed me, for a long time I feared I was a pedophile because I kissed my baby brother’s little prick once when I changed him, it was a girl mindfuck of pedophilic angst that in the remembrance distorted normal behavior, we went questionless into a public space where a retouched girl was the common object of desire, agreeing, we hated vehemently anyone who groped her, more than ever before we feared and wallowed in the pedophiles, they transgressed a border with their bodies that we transgressed every day in the fiction of advertisement, the actions of the body could not be compared to the ad-fucking of the mind, we did not beat ourselves, just the pedophiles, in their eyes we saw the shadow of the poster girl’s other face, we easily accepted fucking her in the public space, ramming dry into her ass with our eyes, we did not accept Continues...
Alen Meškovi , born in 1977 in Bosnia, has lived in Denmark since 1994. He made his debut with the poetry anthology Første gang tilbage (First time back) in 2009. Ukulele-jam, Gyldendal 2011, is his first novel. Foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Sofie Voller, sofie_voller@gyldendalgroupagency.dk Photo: Isak Hoffmeyer
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DEBUTANTS
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Erik Valeur The seventh child ( DE T SY VENDE BARN ) In 1961 seven babies are born in a Danish hospital. What connects them is that their mothers reject them and the children start their lives at the Kongslund orphanage. Later they are scattered to the four corners of the world, but when a woman is found dead on a beach, the focus is once more on the orphanage and its young residents: Has the highly respected orphanage been covering up for more than half a century scandals that cannot bear the light of day? Something seems to suggest so and with the arrival of a mysterious letter containing a baby sock and a cutting from a magazine with a picture of the seven children wearing Santa hats, the case begins to unravel. Ultimately it reaches the country’s biggest TV station, an idealistic newspaper and some of Denmark’s most influential politicians. Awards have been heaped on the novel which weighs nearly three pounds, including Danske Banks Debutantpris, Weekendavisens Litteraturpris and Harald Mogensen-prisen, awarded to the best thriller of the year by Det Danske Kriminalakademi. Erik Valeur started working on the book – partly inspired by his own childhood in an orphanage – in the 1990s and it has been on the Danish bestseller list since it was published in the late summer of 2011. ‘A veritable Kinder Egg,’ was how one critic referred to Erik Valeur’s heavyweight offering which is simultaneously a devastating social critique of power and its abuses, a tense thriller about a woman murdered on a beach – and a heartbreaking story about neglected and abandoned children.
Excerpt from
The seventh child On the third day after the birth - a few hours before she was due to leave - the unknown young woman lifted her head from the pillow and sent for the head midwife. She wanted to exercise her right to cancel the adoption. She wanted to see her child. The head midwife spoke to a nurse who infor med the consultant who confir med the instructions he had previously issued: Under no circumstances was the girl allowed to see the child. No exceptions were possible for this particular birth. When this message reached the head midwife one hour later, she went directly to the girl’s bed and refused her request in a low voice. She assumed that the refusal must be based on the decision that it was in the child’s best interest. ‘I’m afraid it’s too late. The child has gone,’ she said. In the seconds that followed the young woman’s screams
Erik Valeur, born in 1955, journalist and media commentator and recipient of several awards for journalism. Det syvende barn (The seventh child), Politiken 2011, is his first novel and it has been sold to Germany, Holland, Norway and Russia. Foreign Rights: Politikens Forlag, Nya Guldberg, nya.guldberg@jppol.dk
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could be heard all the way to the maternity ward at the other end of the building and they comprised a mixture of grief and fear and unbridled rage that hit the walls like a tornado tearing through a closed tunnel.
... Photo: Kissen Møller Hansen
the embodiment of the actions of the eye, the gaze hovered over her body, the gaze was pure idea apparently, but afterwards the gaze became homeless in a way, we feared the incestuous connections in ourselves, the angst for a mendacious border lie, we kissed our children and our siblings, but it made us anxious and planted a self-hatred in us, when we did not understand what we were doing and mistook love for perversion, we walked around with the poster girl’s inviting gaze in us, she could not even recognize herself, but we also loved her, it pained me to see how her retouched body fucked her all the way into the lower class of the image,
Bjørn Rasmussen
Continues...
The skin is the elastic sheath that surrounds the entire body ( Huden er det el astiske hylster der omgiver hele legemet )
Photo: Frida Gregersen
“How does the mad voice of love sound when it pours from a fifteen-year-old country boy who has barely reached the age of consent before he embarks on a sadomasochistic relationship with his riding instructor, a man in his mid-thirties?” asked Politiken’s literary critic. The answer might very well be: Huden er det elastiske hylster der omgiver hele legemet, Bjørn Rasmussen’s spectacular debut where the main character, Bjørn, now in his mid-20s looks back at his relationship with the riding instructor - and his depressive mother and two brothers with whom he has absolutely nothing in common. It is a dark life that Bjørn re-examines and tells in disjointed sequences where events that did happen blend with events that might have happened in a language that explodes everything it touches: the body, gender issues, the act of writing and the narrative itself. Bjørn Rasmussen’s writing is wild and his novel a kind of destructive and distancing intimate journal where the body is the starting point of everything: sex in every possible permutation, self hatred, cutting and mutilation. “Debut of the year,” “Rasmussen’s formidable and blinding linguistic wizardry,” “Terrifying and beautiful,” was the critical verdict on Bjørn Rasmussen’s prose debut. “It is Marguerite Duras’s The Lover set in North West Jutland.”
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DEBUTANTS
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Excerpt from
The skin is the elastic sheath that surrounds the entire body I was already older when a man came up to me in a hall in a public place one day. ‘I saw your play,’he said, ‘it moved me deeply.’ I didn’t recognise him, I merely registered his movements,
Bjørn Rasmussen, born in 1983, trained first as a dramatist and then at the Danish Writers School, Forfatterskolen. Made his debut in 2004 with the play Myg marcherer i sødt blod (Gnats march in sweet blood). Huden er det elastiske hylster der omgiver hele legemet (The skin is the elastic sheath that surrounds the entire body), Gyldendal 2011, is his first novel. The novel was awarded Montana’s Litteraturpris. Foreign rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Jenny Thor, jenny_thor@ gyldendalgropuagency.dk.
his arrogant stride, the result of his growing up in the province. He could be anybody. ‘Do you still smoke,’ he said,‘the heat is suffocating, there are so many people here,let’s go outside, may I offer you a cigarette.’ Very early in my life it was already too late. When I turned seventeen it was too late. When dreamed about was looking up a man’s arsehole and drawing a very special breath, I thought about love, a bird flapping its wings. When I was fifteen and a half my riding instructor arrived. I often think about this image which I still see and of which I have never spoken. The leather of jodhpurs against the inner thighs, the stitching in the groin, around the seat, skin on skin. The sharp stench of horse piss, ammonia turns the straw red and heavy, and saddle soap, my riding instructor’s coarse hands. Yes. by
Bjørn rasmussen 20
Photo: Robin Skjoldborg
I turned twelve I filled a sock with semen, all I
...
Olga Ravn I eat myself like heather ( Jeg æder mig selv som lyng ) I took the hard-easy ethical standpoint to lovehate Lolita, I needed a firm hand according to some sensible authorities, I needed a preaching intercourse, a psalm-cum shot, but apparently no one could hold me, it was unfortunately a little painful, I got lonely in my allotment shack of dominance,
Danish critics wrote of Olga Ravn’s debut publication: “An ambitious poetry anthology bursting with talent.” The poem “Reklamepigebarnet” (The poster girl), page 15-21. Olga Ravn Jeg æder mig selv som lyng / I eat myself like heather. Gyldendal 2012, 71 pp. Foreign Rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Sofie Voller, sofie_voller@ gyldendalgroupagency.dk
I had no dream scenarios that involved people I knew, I never fantasized about my own funeral, I counted on dying well-known, but unknown, even to the closest friends and family, as most people do, I did not count on one person, it was quite normal, I wrapped myself in confusion and grimaces until they began to take over and become involuntary, but behind the costume was that which is not costume, experience and the drudgery, and the exhaustion, I loved without loving, how easy that is, very easy, no one mutilated me, or scratched, not even myself, I waited without waiting for anything, it was all right, despairing I did not despair, it would be too much work, it made a great impression on me to see the small roasted sesame seeds on the soft red pieces of the pepper, the yellow seeds shined hard on the oiled surface, I remembered it clearly, almost more clearly than I remembered the on the skin stiffened semen’s mime of exciting scar tissue, I was a greedy upper class girl, I looked upon a small mosaic window with a red poppy surrounded by blue and green.
POSTER GIRL by
OLGA RAVN 21
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Recently sold abroad September 2011 January 2012
Photo: Heine Pedersen
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Kirsten Jacobsen The Swedish writer Henning Mankell, “father� of the Inspector Wallander series set in the southern Swedish town of Ystad, has been made the subject of his very own book which has been sold to seven countries since August 2011. His Danish biographer, Kirsten Jacobsen, has previously written about the universe of film maker Lars von Trier, among many others.
RECENTLY SOLD
Danish Non-Fiction
Otava Kirsten Jacobsen Mankell (om) Mankell
Poland Mind Dariusz Sysk Jesper Juul Livet i familien
France
Rumania
Editions du Seuil Kirsten Jacobsen Mankell (om) Mankell
Ponte Jesper Juul Dit kompetente barn + Her er jeg! Hvem er du?
Germany Zsolnay Verlag Kirsten Jacobsen Mankell (om) Mankell
Italy Marsilio Kirsten Jacobsen Mankell (om) Mankell
Norway Ascehoug Søren Frank Giganternes skuldre Gyldendal Kirsten Jacobsen Mankell (om) Mankell
South Korea Vega Books Jesper Juul SMIL! Vi skal spise
Sweden Leopard Kirsten Jacobsen Mankell (om) Mankell
Photo: Vanja Vucovic
Finland
Jesper Juul The Danish family expert Jesper Juul has achieved the rare privilege that one of his books has become a bible for Danish parents. Dit kompetente barn (Your competent child) has quickly become one of those books which most families - now including families in Rumania - will refer to as they bring up their own children.
The Netherlands De Geus Kirsten Jacobsen Mankell (om) Mankell
Untied Kingdom Vision Sports Lars Steen Pedersen/Bjarne Riis RIIS
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Danish CHILDRENS BOOKS
Cecilie Eken & Claus Rye Schierbeck The children’s writer Cecilie Eken writes amazing fiction for children who can read for themselves - and the illustrator Claus Rye Schierbeck has beautifully captured the magical universe in this series about the boy, Aramiel, from a rich oasis town and the desert girl, Sif.
Estonia
Germany
NyNorden Ina Bruhn Min fucking familie
Francks-Kosmos Verlag Ina Bruhn Gennem nattens gader + Under englens vinger
Faroe Islands
Francks-Kosmos Verlag David Meinke Aberne + Rod
Bókadeild Føroya Lærarafelags Lotte Nyholm Amanda Bókadeild Føroya Lærarafelags Mette Egelund Olsen Mor får en kæreste Bókadeild Føroya Lærarafelags Margot Andreasen En skygge i himlen Bókadeild Føroya Lærarafelags Keld Petersen Hvad gør hønen Bokadeildin Trine Bundsgaard & Solvej Agerbæk Simone og de andre
Finland Tammi Kim Fupz & Salla Savolainen Verdens grimmeste pige
Francks-Kosmos Verlag Caroline Ørsum Den røde sofa + Sporene ender
Greenland Milik Publishing Dorte Futtrup & Lilian Brøgger Hullet i himlen
Latvia Jumava Peter Madsen & Sissel Bøe Troldeliv: Festen
Norway Aschehoug Katrine Marie Guldager & Siri Melchior Lone bliver syg Front Forlag Peter Gotthardt & Jan Kjær Elverdronningens børn nr. 4 Front Forlag Jesper Christiansen & Niels Bach Ronin: Buen (2)
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RECENTLY SOLD
Danish CHILDRENS BOOKS
Front Forlag Peter Gotthardt & Gunhild Rød Max og Mille og de lumske lus + Max og Mille og den dumme dejlige sol + Max og Mille og de fikse reflekser Front Forlag Jim Lyngvild Nordisk Mytologi + Skyggernes bog + Alfemod og ulveblod + Epos og enhjørningens Front Forlag Peter Gotthardt & Jan Solheim Den magiske falk: Den gale troldkvinde (1) + Den magiske falk: Falken i lænker (2) Schibsted Jan Kjær Heksebogen
Sweden Nypon Förlag Cecilie Eken & Claus Rye Schierbeck Den sorte safir: De døde bjerge (4) + Den sorte safir: Dronningens gåde (5) + Den sorte safir: Safirens forbandelse (6) Nypon Förlag Peter Gotthardt & Jan Solheim Det fortryllede slot: Alfernes fjende (3) Nypon Förlag Morten Dürr & Peter Bay Alexandersen Amirs alfabet Nypon Förlag Kåre Bluitgen & Kirsten Raagaard Tørklædet
Russia Azbooka Atticus Peter Madsen & Sissel Bøe Troldeliv: Er det sandt (7) + Troldeliv: Heksen (8)
South Korea Hyun Books Inc. Ida Jessen & Hanne Bartholin Da Carl næsten var ond
Ida Jessen & Hanne Bartholin Ida Jessen, who is currently in the news with her novel Ramt af ingenting (Hit by nothing) writes children’s as well as adult fiction. This time she has collaborated with the illustrator Hanne Bartholin to produce a new book for very young readers: As is the way with all siblings, Carl the elephant tends to fall out with his baby brother, Max.
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Danish FICTION
Armenia
Czech
France
Guitank publishing Jussi Adler-Olsen Kvinden i buret
Czech Radio Martin A. Hansen Agerhønen
Gaïa Editions Anna Grue Kunsten at dø
Brasil
Czech Radio Karen Blizen Ehrengard
Alaude A.J. Kazinski Den sidste gode mand Editora Sextante Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
China UnderTablePress Karen Blixen Den afrikanske farm
Croatia Algoritam Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
Euromedia Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
Faroe Islands
Presses de la Cite Morten Brask Havet i Therezienstadt + William Sidis perfekte liv
Bókadeild Føroya Lærarafelags Lotte Nyholm Amanda
Prisma Presse Helle Vincentz Den afrikanske jomfru
Finland
Germany
Atena Pia Juul Mordet på Halland
Aufbau Elsebeth Egholm Tre hundes nat
WSOY Hanne-Vibeke Holst Undskyldningen
Blanvalet Erik Valeur Det syvende barn
Hrvatsko filolosko drustvo Karen Blixen Shadows on the Grass
Photo: kamilla bryndum
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Galaade Jakob Ejersbo Eksil + Revolution + Liberty
btb Random House Kirsten Hammann Se på mig Kirsten Hammann “It looks easy, but it’s terribly difficult. Hemingway would have been pleased - clearly a bestseller,” wrote the literary critic of the newspaper, Politiken, when giving the award-winning writer Kirsten Hammann six stars out of six for her latest novel about love, gender and art.
Dumont Pia Juul Mordet på Halland Fischer Verlag Øbro & Tornbjerg Djævlens ansigt + Skrig under vand Goldmann Therese Philipsen Fortidens Synder
RECENTLY SOLD
Danish FICTION
Draumsyn Astrid Saalbach Fordrivelsen
Osburg Verlag Henrik Strube Violinbyggeren
Forlagid Anna Grue Judaskysset
Piper/ Taschenbuch Julie Hastrup Det blinde punkt + Blodig genvej
Forlagid Elsebeth Egholm Vold og magt
Greece Livani Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten Livanis Jussi Adler-Olsen Kvinden i buret + Fasandræberne
Forlagid Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Nattergalens død
Italy Einaudi Elsebeth Egholm Nærmeste pårørende
Hungary
Guanda/ Mauro Spagnol Kim Leine Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden
Libri Mikkel Birkegaard Over mit lig + Libri di Luca
Marsilio Editori Anna Grue Dybt at falde + Judaskysset
Polar Books Pia Juul Mordet på Halland
Mondadori Hanne-Vibeke Holst Undskyldningen
Iceland
Newton Compton Steffen Jacobsen Når de døde vågner
Draumsyn Kirsten Hammann Se på mig Draumsyn Carsten Jensen Vi de druknede
Voland Erling Jepsen Kunsten at græde i kor
Photo: Morten Langkilde
Hanser Verlag Kim Leine Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden
Jakob Ejersbo “I know of no writers in your generation or mine who come even close to you in terms of originality, intensity or an eye for humanity,” said the Danish writer Carsten Jensen to Jakob Ejersbo, when he was awarded the Danish booksellers’ award, The Golden Laurels, in 2003 for his first novel, Nordkraft (Nothern Powers). When Jakob Ejersbo died at the age of 40 in 2008, he left behind three novels exploring the relationship between the Western world and Third World African countries inspired by his own childhood in Tanzania.
Japan Kodansha Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
Latvia Zvaigzne Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten 27
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Danish FICTION
Norway
Poland
Serbia
Aschehoug Christian Jungersen Du forsvinder
Slowo/Obraz Terytoria Jussi Adler-Olsen Flaskepost fra P
Alnari Jussi Adler-Olsen Kvinden i buret + Fasandræberne
Aschehoug Steffen Jacobsen Når de døde vågner
Swiat Ksiazki Mikkel Birkegaard Over mit lig
Cappelen Damm Kim Leine Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden
Zysk Peter Høeg Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne
Cappelen Damm Morten Frich Kronvidnet
Rumania
Font Lotte & Søren Hammer Ensomme hjerters klub Gyldendal Øbro & Tornbjerg Djævlens ansigt Piratforlaget Dy Plambeck Gudfar Piratforlaget Hanne-Vibeke Holst Undskyldningen Samlaget Pia Juul Mordet på Halland Schibsted Elsebeth Egholm Liv og legeme +Vold og magt + Fortidens synder Schibsted Erik Valeur Det syvende barn 28
Editura TREI Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten Polirum Mikkel Birkegaard Over mit lig RAO Jussi Adler-Olsen Fasandræberne
Russia Azbooka Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
Direkcija NNK International Birgitte Kosovi Om natten i Jerusalem Karpos Adda Djørup Den mindste modstand Plato Books Naja Marie Aidt Bavian
Slovenia Ikar Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten Ikar Jussi Adler-Olsen Kvinden i buret
South Korea Moonhaksoochup Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
Corpus Erik Valuer Det syvende barn
Spain
Corpus Pia Juul Mordet på Halland
Duomo Ediciones Kim Leine Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden Ediciones Maeva Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Et stille, umærkeligt drab
RECENTLY SOLD
Danish FICTION
Marbot Ediciones P. V. Glob Mosefolket Roca Jakob Ejersbo Eksil + Revolution + Liberty
Sweden Albert Bonniers Förlag Dy Plambeck Gudfar
Albert Bonniers Förlag Hanne-Vibeke Holst Undskyldningen Bo Ejeby Karl Aage Rasmussen Tilnærmelser til Gustav Mahler Bra Böcker Jussi Adler-Olsen Journal 64 Ellerströms Søren Ulrik Thomsen Rystet Spejl Forum Kim Leine Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden Kabusa Christina Hesselholdt Camilla og resten av selskabet Kabusa Kirsten Hammann Se på mig
Modernista AB Inger Christensen Lys + Del af labyrinten
Taiwan Marco Polo Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
The Netherlands Cargo/ De Bezige Bij Julie Hastrup En torn i øjet + Det blinde punkt
United Kingdom Arcadia Leif Davidsen Fjenden i spejlet Peirene Pia Juul Mordet på Halland Quercus Steffen Jacobsen Når de døde vågner
Photo: Polfoto
Albert Bonniers Förlag Lene Kaaberbøl & Agnete Friis Drengen i kufferten
Lethe Förlag Simon Fruelund Borgerligt tusmørke
De Arbeiderspers Kim Leine Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden De Bezige Bij Erik Valeur Det syvende barn Podium Pia Juul Mordet på Halland Prometheus Helle Vincentz Den afrikanske jomfru Prometheus Øbro & Tornbjerg Djævlens ansigt + Skrig under vand
Inger Christensen “Scandinavia’s only worthy candidate for the Nobel prize for literature,” said the Norwegian writer, Jan Kjærstad, about the Danish poet Inger Christensen, who died in 2009 – without ever receiving the award. The Swedish publisher Modernista will now re-issue her debut, the poetry anthology Lys (Light) from 1962 as well as her linguistically reflective and philosophical poems Del af labyrinten (Part of the labyrinth) from 1982. 29
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
H ER M A N BA NG 30
HERMAN BANG
”Monsieur Bang, you are the first impressionist
author in the world.” – Claude Monet, after reading ‘Katinka’ and meeting Herman Bang 2012 marks the centenary of the death of the Danish author Herman Bang (1857-1912) who died in a railway carriage in the US. Herman Bang tried to make a living as an actor, a dramatist and journalist until he made his debut in 1880 with the novel, Haabløse Slægter (Families without hope). His writing style did not permit lengthy descriptions or psychological explanations and has later been characterised as impressionist: the author captures impressions and Bang’s are often accompanied with ironic comments. Throughout his life Herman Bang had a soft spot for people who found themselves living outside traditional middle-class values and in his own life he experienced several crises, financial or relating to his mental health, often triggered by his homosexuality. His “well-known peculiarity” as the Danish poet, Sophus Claussen, expressed it overshadowed his artistic reputation for a long time and he was often the object of ridicule and contempt by his contemporaries. Posterity, however, views him differently and the quality of Bang’s language and dialogue means his prose is today regarded as one of the most original Danish contributions to world literature. 31
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
The centenary of his death will be marked not only in Denmark, but also in Milan where the work of Herman Bang will provide a focus on Danish culture at a multicultural festival in April and May 2012. The publishing company, Iperborea, under the artistic direction of Luca Scarlini is behind the event. Iperborea will be publishing four books by and about Herman Bang: his memoirs Det hvide hus (The white house) (1898) and Det grå hus (The grey house) (1901), Les quatre Diables (1890) as well as The Last Journey of a Poet, which contains a short story by Klaus Mann, “Reise ans Ende der Nacht”, the last letter written by Herman Bang as well as two of his short stories.
“He reminds me of Chekhov” Emilia Lodigiani, founder of the Italian publishing house Iperborea and the initiator of the Danish Culture Festival in Milan.
Why have you decided to publish so many titles by a classic Danish author? Emilia Lodigiani: It’s true that it’s the first time we’ve published so many books by the same author at the same time. At Iperborea we like using anniversaries and special occasions as an excuse or a starting pistol to publish and promote classic works. Classic literature is and always will be the key to understanding contemporary fiction. You have to supplement contemporary fiction with the classics to understand a country’s literature and this includes Scandinavian crime fiction. Many of the themes found in the writings of Herman Bang though on a higher literary level, are the same as we find today in crime fiction: aspects of morality, passion and society. What is Herman Bang’s appeal to the modern reader? Emilia Lodigiani:Two factors make Bang modern and relevant: firstly there’s his almost cinematic style. Herman Bang’s eyes look deeply into his characters, but without using psychology; it’s 32
an external gaze which the modern reader will recognise from the cinema. And then there is his exploration of the outsider. That’s eternal. As are the issues around the difficulty of understanding and accepting yourself, donning a mask and pretending to be someone other than you really are. And there’s the decadent aspect, examining how your desires can never really be fulfilled. We always imagine that we have lost what was most precious to us, we long for it and we try to recover it. For me melancholy and nostalgia are at the heart of literature and few writers express them as well as Herman Bang. In this way he reminds me very much of Chekhov: nostalgia, childhood and desire. They will always appeal to readers. We hope that the festival and the publications will give Italian readers an insight into the genius and modernity of Herman Bang. The festival in Milan and the translations have been funded by Statens Kunstråds Litteraturudvalg (The Danish Arts Council’s Committee for Literature).
HERMAN BANG
PLEASE NOTE 2012 also marks the half centenary of the death of the Danish writer Karen Blixen (1885-1962). Iperborea will commemorate this by publishing Karen Blixen’s puppet comedy Sandhedens hævn (The revenge of truth). Iperborea will also publish three novels by contemporary Danish authors: Indvandreren (The immigrant) by Olav Hergel, Rejse til Nanga (Journey to Nanga) by Jørn Riel and finally Anders Bodelsen’s Pengene og livet (Money and Life).
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Photo: Sofie Amalie Klougart
DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Christian Jungersen
Josefine Klougart
Books i “Many books promise to change their readers’ lives. Few succeed. Christian Jungersen’s The Exception is truly an exception,” wrote The Economist about Jungersen’s award-winning bestseller from 2004 which has been sold to 18 countries. Now Christian Jungersen is back with his third novel, the neuro-thriller Du forsvinder (You Disappear), which he has spent the last seven years researching and writing. As was the case with his previous novel this is a literary thriller, a gripping read, that takes the reader one step beyond the conventions of the genre thriller. The novel follows schoolteacher Mia and her husband Frederik, a talented and highly respected headmaster of a private school, whose lives are turned upside
Photo: Jan Grarup/NOOR
down when Frederik is diagnosed with a brain tumour. Mia struggles to recognise her husband and when she learns that he has defrauded his school of millions of kroner, she is forced to re-examine their past. But has the disease changed Frederik’s personality? Or has it simply revealed his true nature?
Du forsvinder / (You disappear), Gyldendal 2012, 430 pp. Sold to: Norway. Previous titles sold to: Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA. Foreign Rights: Leonhardt & Høier, Anneli Høier, anneli@leonhardt-hoier.dk
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“A writer like her comes along once in a decade,” said Hans Otto Jørgensen, former head of the Danish Writers School, about 26-year-old Josefine Klougart. In only two years she has published four critically acclaimed books and been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for her debut novel, Stigninger og fald (Rises and Falls) (2010). Her latest novel Én af os sover (One of us is asleep) dissects depression, grief, loss and love in the assured poetic prose, simultaneously laconic and bubbly, which has become her trademark. “She is probably the finest young author we have in Denmark,” wrote Berlingske Tidende’s literary critic. Josefine Klougart has just received the Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary Stardust Award.
Én af os sover / (One of us is asleep), Rosinante 2012, 260 pp. Foreign Rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Karen Vad Bruun, karen_bruun@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
BOOKS IN BRIEF A. J. Kazinski / Photo: Mikkel Østergaard
Danish crime duos hit the world
in brief Danes read and write crime novels as never before - on their own and in partnerships. In recent years a number of Danish duos have experienced huge success abroad including the brother and sister partnership of Lotte and Søren Hammer, who have so far published three novels, Svinehunde (The Beast Within) (2010), Alting har sin pris (A price for everything) (2010) and Ensomme hjerters klub (Lonely Hearts Club) (2011). Their detective, Chief Inspector Konrad Simonsen, has achieved success in Denmark and abroad with sales to 16 countries so far. The female duo Agnete Friis and Lene Kaaberbøl have written three books featuring the Red Cross nurse, Nina Borg: Drengen i kufferten (The Boy in the Suitcase) (2008), Et stille umærkeligt drab
(A quiet, unnoticed killing) (2010) and Nattergalens død (Death of the nightingale) (2011). Their books frequently appear in foreign publishers catalogues and have so far been sold to 18 countries. Writing under the name A.J. Kazinski is another duo, Jacob Weinreich and Anders Rønnow Klarlund, who have co-written Den sidste gode mand (The Last Good Man) featuring the manicdepressive police officer, Niels Bentzon, as the central character. This spring this book will be followed by Søvnen og døden (Sleeping and dying). Their debut novel has so far been sold to 18 countries. When the newspaper Politiken and the publishing company Politikens Forlag were deciding the winner of their major crime competition in 2010, the award
went to a married couple, Jeanette Øbro and Ole Tornbjerg. So far Øbro and Tornbjerg have published two crime novels featuring the crime profiler Katrine Wraa, Skrig under vand (Screaming under water) (2010) and Djævlens ansigt (The devil’s face) (2011). Their books, too, are starting to find their way to foreign publishers as they have been sold to two and three countries, respectively. Another crime duo, also a couple, are Benni Bødker and Karen Vad Bruun, whose debut Blod vil have blod (Blood Will Have Blood) (2011) has been sold to two countries. Their follow up novel, Før døden lukker mine øjne (Before death closes my eyes) has just been published. Both books feature Linnea Kirkegaard, an American trained forensic anthropologist and Danish-born cosmopolitan.
Lotte and Søren Hammer are published by Gyldendal. Foreign Rights: Gyldendal Group, Sofie Voller, sofie_voller@gyldendalgroupagency.dk Jeanette Øbro and Ole Tornbjerg are published by Politikens Forlag. Foreign Rights: Politikens Forlag, Nya Guldberg, nya.guldberg@jppol.dk Benni Bødker and Karen Bruun are published by Modtryk. Foreign Rights: Leonhardt & Høier, monica@leonhardt-hoier.dk Agnete Friis and Lene Kaaberbøl are published by People’sPress. Foreign Rights: People’sPress, Julie Lærke Løvgreen, julo@artpeople.dk A.J. Kazinski is published by Politikens Forlag. Foreign Rights: Leonhardt & Høier, Monica Gram, monica@leonhardt-hoier.dk. UK/US Rights and film rights: Lars Ringhof Agency, Lars Ringhof, lars@ringhof.dk
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Kim Leine
Ida Jessen
Even before its publication Kim Leine’s fourth novel, Profeterne fra Evighedsfjorden (Prophets from the Fjord of Eternity) had been sold to seven countries. The novel is set in colonial Sukkertoppen (now Maniitsoq) in West Greenland in 1793, where a woman is kicked off a cliff top and falls to her death. Animosity between Inuit and colonialists rumbles and grows in the background, and deep into the country a rebellion has started among Christian Inuit. Kim Leine’s novel is an epic story about the losses and gains of a culture clash, the impossibility of finding your way home and the quest for freedom, inspired by real events in the extended Danish kingdom in the late 1700s. Kim Leine made his debut in 2007 with the autobiographical novel, Kalak (Kalak), which was described by Danish critics as a book “of unforgettable qualities that will survive the otherwise merciless oblivion to which most writers’ debuts are consigned.”
Ida Jessen made her name in Denmark and abroad with three novels Den der lyver (The Liar) (2001), Det første jeg tænker på (My first thought) (2006) and Børnene (The Children) (2009), all set in the fictitious Danish town of Hvium. Her latest novel Ramt af ingenting (Hit by nothing) has the subheading, A book of forgetting. It is the story of an angry, grief-stricken woman who after a broken love affair buys a house with an overgrown garden. While she battles weeds, tree stumps, hedges and roses she starts to ask questions and discovers freedom and healing in the midst of chaos. What if the answer to everything is nothing? Ida Jessen has been awarded several prizes including the Danish Bank’s major prize for literature 2006 and the Danish booksellers’ award, The Golden Laurels 2010.
Books i Profeterne i Evighedsfjorden / (Prophets from the Fjord of Eternity), Gyldendal 2012. 525 pp. Sold to: Germany, Holland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and UK. Previous titles sold TO: Germany, Norway and Sweden. Foreign Rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Sofie Voller, sofie_voller@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
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Ramt af ingenting / (Hit by nothing) Gyldendal, 2012, 68 pp. Previous titles sold to: Germany, Holland, Norway, Russia, Spain and Sweden. Foreign Rights: Gyldendal Group Agency, Karen Vad Bruun, karen_bruun@gyldendalgroupagency.dk
BOOKS IN BRIEF
Mikkel Birkegaard
Pia Juul
Hanne-Vibeke Holst
Photo: Thomas A.
Photo: KAROLINA ZAPOLSKA
Photo: miklos szabo
Given that his debut novel, Libri de Luca, has been sold to 25 countries, expectations are high of Mikkel Birkegaard’s third novel Fra drømmenes bog (From the Book of Dreams). The novel is set in 19th century Copenhagen and begins one cold night when a father announces to his young son that he is about to leave the family forever. The father has been acting strangely, but seems lucid that night. Before he leaves, he gives his son a book with the inscription Ex Libris Somnium. The next day the father’s body is found in the waters of the port of Copenhagen. His death marks the start of an adventure which becomes the writer’s personal tribute to Jules Verne and Sherlock Holmes.
This May the lyricist, dramatist, short story writer and novelist Pia Juul celebrates her 50th birthday. On this occasion her publisher, Tiderne Skifter, has re-issued Samlede digte (Collected poems) and a new short story anthology, Af sted, til stede (Away and present). Pia Juul’s recent novel Mordet på Halland (The murder of Halland) (2009) was described as a welcome renewal of the crime genre and earned her Denmark’s biggest literature award, the Danish Bank’s major prize for literature 2009.
The author of the Therese trilogy and The Crown Princess, The King’s Murder and The Queen Sacrifice is yet again topping the Danish bestseller list with her latest book, the family drama Undskyldningen (The Apology), a story in three parts about desire and deceit, truth and reconciliation. “She fills her world with treats and thrills. But she has another message, psychological and political, for her readers,” wrote Politiken’s enthusiastic literary critic about Undskyldningen, which has so far been sold to Finland, Iceland, Italy, Norway and Sweden. Holst’s awards include the Danish booksellers’ award, The Golden Laurels 2009.
in brief Fra drømmenes bog / (From the Book of Dreams), C&K Forlag 2012, 380 pp. Previous titles sold to: Holland, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia, Romania, Sweden and UK. Foreign Rights: Andrew Nurnberg Agency, contact@andrewnurnberg.com
Samlede digte/Af sted, til stede (Collected poems/Away and present), Tiderne Skifter 2012, 380 pp/150 pp. Previous titles sold to: UK, Finland, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Norway, Russia and Sweden. Foreign Rights: (Mordet på Halland / The murder of Halland), Stilton Agency, Emma Tiblin, emma@stilton. com (Other titles) Tiderne Skifter, Claus Clausen, tiderneskifter@tiderneskifter.dk
Undskyldningen /(The Apology), Gyldendal 2011, 422 pp. Previous titles sold to: Finland, Germany, Holland, Latvia, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Foreign Rights: Lars Ringhof Agency, Esthi Kunz, esthi@ringhof.dk
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DANISH LITERARY MAGAZINE
Support ScHemes 2012 The Danish Arts Council’s Committee for Literature works to promote familiarity with 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 wants to acquire an insight into contemporary Danish literature and visit the Danish publishers, festivals ect., to strengthen network 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 Support is provided to foreign publishing houses that publish works translated from Danish. Support is provided to works of fiction, general works of non-fiction, comics/graphic novels, and children’s literature translated by professional translators.
There are four annual application deadlines.
Nordic translation Fund: inter-Nordic translations
Application guidelines, deadlines and electronic application forms may be obtained at danisharts.dk
Support may only be sought for the translation of works from Danish. Support for translations into Danish must be sought from within the country in which the respective work was originally published. The funds for Nordic translations are distributed on behalf of the Art and Culture Program of Nordic Culture Point under the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Travel grants for translators Professional translators may apply for travel grants in connection with specific translation projects as well as for supplemental linguistic and cultural training.
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There are four annual application deadlines.
There are four annual application deadlines.
SUPPORT SCHEMES
SAMPLE Translation Fund International research programme
General funds
Translation Fund
DANISH ARTS COUNCIL SUPPORT SCHEMES
NORDIC Translation Fund
Travel grants for translators
Promotion grants Literary exchange fund
Literary exchange fund
Promotion grants
Support may be provided to defray travel and hotel expenses in connection with a Danish author’s participation in literary festivals, readings and publication events abroad, if there is a formal invitation. Support may be provided to foreign authors travelling to Denmark on the same conditions. In addition, foreign translators of Danish literature may apply for support to defray travel expenses in connection with shorter stays in Denmark.
Foreign publishers can apply for grants for the promotion of Danish literature abroad.
There is no application deadline, and applications will be processed as quickly as practicable.
There are four annual application deadlines.
General funds Normally, support is only provided for events, publications, and seminars in Denmark. In exceptional cases, however, the Danish Arts Council’s Committee for Literature may subsidize the publication abroad of Danish works in translation and events, that have a special focus on Danish literature.
There are two annual application deadlines.
Contact: The Danish Arts Council’s Committee for Literature, litteratur@kunst.dk, www.kunst.dk
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The main aim of the magazine is to inform foreign publishers, literary agents and translators about trends in Danish literature and publicise sources of literature funding available from The Danish Arts Council. For details about the work of the Danish Arts Council please visit www.danisharts.dk & www.kunst.dk
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Organisations Danish Writers of Fiction and Poetry was founded in 1991 and has approx. 200 members Telephone +45 61 28 68 26 www.skoenlit.dk
The Danish Playwrights’ and Screenwriters’ Guild (founded in 1906) is an association for theater, radio, television and film scriptwriters. It has approx. 300 members. Telephone +45 33 45 40 35 www.dramatiker.dk
The Danish Booksellers Association is a trade association for Danish booksellers. The association has approx. 380 members and represents 90% of all Danish booksellers. Telephone +45 32 54 22 55 www.boghandlerforeningen.dk
The Danish Writers Association is Denmark’s oldest professional association for writers and translators. It was founded in 1894 and has approx. 1350 members. The association includes the Danish Translators Association. Telephone +45 32 95 51 00 www.danskforfatterforening.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 approx. 2/3 of the overall turnover from Danish publications, including multimedia. Telephone +45 33 15 65 88 www.danskeforlag.dk
Danish Literary Magazine is published by The Danish Arts Council’s Committee for Literature. The magazine is published twice annually: for the London Book Fair in April and for the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. danishliterarymagazine.dk
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