page_title: Danish literature
section_title: Post-war period
hierarchical_section_title: Danish literature / 20th century / Post-war period
caption_attribution_description: English: Jussi Adler-Olsen at the Frankfurt Book Fair October 2009 Deutsch: Jussi Adler-Olsen auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse Oktober 2009
context_page_description: Danish literature, a subset of Scandinavian literature, stretches back to the Middle Ages. The earliest preserved texts from Denmark are runic inscriptions on memorial stones and other objects, some of which contain short poems in alliterative verse. In the late 12th century Saxo Grammaticus wrote Gesta Danorum. During the 16th century, the Lutheran Reformation came to Denmark. During this era, Christiern Pedersen translated the New Testament into Danish and Thomas Kingo composed hymns. Fine poetry was created in the early 17th century by Anders Arrebo. The challenges faced during Denmark's absolute monarchy in 1660 are chronicled in Jammersminde by Leonora Christina of the Blue Tower. Ludvig Holberg, influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment and Humanism, is considered the founder of modern Danish and Norwegian literature. Neoclassical poetry, drama, and the essay flourished during the 18th century influenced by French and English trends. German influence is seen in the verse of the leading poets of the late 18th century such as Johannes Ewald and Jens Baggesen. Other 18th century writers include the hymn writer Hans Adolph Brorson and the satirical poet Johan Herman Wessel.
context_section_description: Tove Ditlevsen (1917–1976) was an important poet, as well as a novelist, essayist and short-story writer. She became one of the most widely read women writers in Denmark. Known for her direct style and honest accounts of her private life in the poorer quarters of Copenhagen, Ditlevsen enjoyed popularity from the 1940s until her tragic suicide in 1976. Among her most popular works are her autobiographical novel Barndommens Gade translated as "Childhood's Street" (1943) and her harshly honest memoirs Det tidlige forår translated as "Early Spring" (1976).
  Klaus Rifbjerg (born 1931) has published over 100 novels as well as poetry, short stories and TV plays. Among his works which have been translated into English are Witness to the Future and War. In his novel "Den kroniske uskyld" (Chronic Innocence) (1958) about a generation which experienced problems with its personal development and its sexuality, Rifbjerg created an image of himself as a provocative and scandalous author. The novel, now a classic, is the first clear sign in Rifbjerg's work of the theme of puberty which has reappeared in much of his later fiction.
  Dan Turèll (1946–1993) was an extremely prolific writer who is perhaps remembered above all for his 12 detective stories, the first of which Mord i mørket (Murder in the Dark) was published in 1981, the last Mord i San Francisco (Murder in San Francisco) in 1990. But he also wrote a passionate autobiographical novel, Vangede billeder (Images of Vangede) (1975), as well as many collections of modern poetry.
  Leif Davidsen (born 1950) worked mainly in Spain and Russia as a freelance journalist for Danmarks Radio and a number of Danish newspapers. He is now better known as the author of gripping thrillers, several of which combine politics with espionage in Eastern Europe. His first book, published in 1984, was followed by eight others, all of them immediately popular in Denmark and later elsewhere in translation. English translations include "Russian Singer" (Den russiske sangerinde 1988), "The Serbian Dane" (Den serbiske dansker 1996) and "Lime's Photograph" (Lime's billede 1998), all of which have been filmed. Published in Danish in 2008, his most recent book På udkig efter Hemingway (roughly translated "Looking for Hemingway"), is a story of espionage based in Cuba.
  Bjarne Reuter (born 1950) is an extremely productive and popular writer, especially in regard to children's literature. Many of his stories have appeared as films, including  "Zappa" (1977) and "Busters Verden" (Buster's World) (1979). Most of his books are set in the 1950s and 1960s in Copenhagen. English translations include "The Boys from St. Petri" (Drengene fra Sankt Petri) (1991) and "The Ring of the Slave Prince" (Prins Faisals ring) (2000).
  Peter Høeg (born 1957) began his literary career in 1988 with his novel Forestilling om det tyvende århundrede (English: The History of Danish Dreams) whose colourful characters participate in Denmark's transition to a modern welfare state. It was, however, Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for sne (English: Smilla's Sense of Snow) in 1992 which became his real breakthrough. Released as a movie in 1997, it tells the story of how Smilla, a Greenlander, helps to solve the mystery behind a boy who falls to his death from a rooftop into the snow below. Almost as popular are his novels De måske egnede or Borderliners (1994), Kvinden og aben or The Woman and the Ape (1996) and Den stille pige or The Quiet Girl (2007).
  Jens Christian Grøndahl (born 1959) began his literary career in 1985 with novels in the rather complex French nouveau roman style. His breakthrough came in 1998 with his more traditionally structured Lucca which had far more general appeal. Grøndahl's psychological insight into amorous relationships between individuals of different ages has made him one of Denmark's most appreciated modern novelists. Several of his books have been translated into English including Tavshed i oktober (Silence in October) (1996), Virginia (2000) and Et andet lys (An Altered Light) (2002).
  Among other popular contemporary a
caption: Jussi Adler-Olsen
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