Birgithe Kosovic (born 22 March 1972) is a Danish journalist and author who has received several awards for her novel ''Det dobbelte land'' (literally The Doubled Country, 2010) based on her family's background in the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

."Birgithe Kosovic"
''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 22 March 1972.

Biography

Born in

Albertslund Albertslund is a Copenhagen suburb in Albertslund Municipality, Denmark. It is located west of central Copenhagen, with a population of around 30,000. Albertslund is a planned community or new town mainly built in the 1960s and 1970s. The sub ...

, Kosovic was brought up by her Serbian father and Danish mother. She decided to become an author after taking part in a writing competition in her early years at primary school. While studying Danish at

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. The University of Copenhagen c ...

, she worked as a feature journalist for the Danish newspaper ''

Information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

'' and the Norwegian ''

Morgenbladet is Norway's oldest daily newspaper, covering politics, culture and science, now a weekly news magazine primarily directed at well-educated readers. The magazine is notable for its opinion section featuring contributions exclusively from Norweg ...

''. Her debut as a novelist was in 1997 with ''Legenden om Villa Valmarena'' (The Legend of Villa Valmarena) about a female dwarf at the beginning of the 19th century. It was followed in 1999 by ''Om natten i Jerusalem'' (Nighttime in Jerusalem) inspired by

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...

's exotic life and writings."Birgithe Kosovic"
, Forfatterweb. Retrieved 29 January 2013.

''Det dobbelte land''

Her most successful work has been ''Det dobbelte land'' (The Doubled Country) for which she has received several awards and grants including

Weekendavisen ''Weekendavisen'' (meaning ''The Weekend Newspaper'' in English) is a Danish weekly broadsheet newspaper published on Fridays in Denmark. Its circulation (as of 2007) is approximately 60,000 copies, about ten per cent of which cover subscription ...

's Literature Prize (2010),

Danmarks Radio DR (), officially the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in English, is a Danish public-service radio and television broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enter ...

's Novel Prize (2011) and

Danske Bank Danske Bank A/S (, ) is a Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail custome ...

's Literature Prize (2011). Basing her story on authentic characters, some from her own Serbian family, she tells the story of how in the mountains of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, Milovan receives a letter informing him that his wife has died. This leads to a review of his past life. Twenty years earlier, he had given up his post as party secretary, deceived his wife with his best friend's pregnant wife and refused to use his influence to prevent the imprisonment of his own son. Now, in the early 1990s, he is surrounded by Croatian nationalists who are trying to rid themselves of Serbs like Milovan himself. The novel develops into a tale of guilt and shame, bringing us face to face with what lies behind the facade of the toughest men of the times. The reader is led to wonder why Milovan has become so cynical and why he deserted his wife. It also encourages reflection on the wider implications of the Yugoslavian clashes. Translated into Serbian as ''Dvostruka zemlja'', the book was presented to Serbian readers at the 2011 Belgrade Book Fair. Kosovic explained that she had been attracted to the art of story-telling from an early age as her father used to tell her stories of Yugoslovia, always full of lively characters experiencing both good and evil."''Dvostruka zemlja'' Birgite Kosović nagrađena u Danskoj"
BizLife. Retrieved 30 January 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosovic, Birgithe Danish women novelists Danish women journalists Danish people of Serbian descent 1972 births Living people 20th-century Danish journalists 21st-century Danish journalists People from Albertslund Municipality