Klaus Rifbjerg (15 December 1931 – 4 April 2015) was a Danish writer. He authored more than 170 novels, books and essays. In 1965 he co-produced the film ''
4x4'' which was entered into the
4th Moscow International Film Festival.
Biography
Rifbjerg was born in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
and grew up on the island of
Amager
Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...
, which is part of the city, the child of two teachers. Later he studied English and literature, in Copenhagen and for a year in the US at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
.
His breakthrough was in 1958 with the novel ''Den kroniske Uskyld''. It was made into a film in 1985, directed by Edward Fleming. From that time on he published more than 100 novels as well as poetry and short story collections, plays, TV and radio plays, film scripts, children's books and diaries. Rifbjerg is also known for having been a journalist and critic. Along with
Villy Sørensen, he was editor of the publication ''
Vindrosen'', and from 1984 to 1991 he was the literary director of
Gyldendal.
Among other honors, he was awarded the
Swedish Academy Nordic Prize (1999), known as the 'little Nobel';
The Nordic Council's Literature Prize
The Nordic Council Literature Prize is awarded for a work of literature written in one of the languages of the Nordic countries, that meets "high literary and artistic standards". Established in 1962, the prize is awarded every year, and is worth ...
(1970), the
Rungstedlund Award (2009) and the
grand prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. of the
Danish Academy (1966).
Rifbjerg has been seen as the first true modernist author in Danish, as he became increasingly more experimental though the 1960s, culminating with ''
Anna (jeg) Anna''. Many of his works from 1970 and some 25 years on are seen as being looser in scope and composition, often humorous or sarcastic, often leaving the protagonist chaotically alone with his or her existential and psychological hangups, subtly exemplifying modernism as the breakdown of the normality of the bourgeoisie. A principal theme is the portrayal of children and their difficulties establishing their own identity. Rifbjerg's works from the 2000s opened a new line of inspiration: historic events.
On 4 April 2015 Rifbjerg died in Copenhagen after a long illness, aged 83.
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Works
* ''Under vejr med mig selv'' (1956)
* ''Efterkrig'' (1957)
* ''Den kroniske uskyld'' (1958)
* ''Konfrontation'' (1960)
* ''Og andre historier'' (1964)
* ''Operaelskeren'' (1966)
* ''Lonni og Karl'' (1968)
* '' Anna (jeg) Anna'' (1969)
* ''Lena Jørgensen Klintevej 4 2650 Hvidovre'' (1971)
* ''Tak for turen'' (1975)
* ''De hellige aber'' (1981); English translation ''Witness to the Future
''Witness to the Future'' is a novel written by Danish author Klaus Rifbjerg in 1981.
It is about two young boys who are playing in the woods outside Copenhagen in occupied Denmark in the Second World War. They discover a cave with a tunnel tha ...
'' by Steven T. Murray (1987)
* ''Falsk forår'' (1984)
* '' Tukuma'' (1984)
* ''Krigen'' (1991); English translation ''War'' by Steven T. Murray & Tiina Nunnally (1995)
* ''Nansen og Johansen'' (2002)
* ''Knastørre digte/Strohtrockene Gedichte'' (2009); German translation by , edited by Paul Alfred Kleinert
References
External links
Bibliografi profileDanmarks Radio clips
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rifbjerg, Klaus
Danish male poets
1931 births
2015 deaths
Nordic Council Literature Prize winners
Recipients of the Grand Prize of the Danish Academy
Danish male novelists
20th-century Danish poets
21st-century Danish poets
20th-century Danish novelists
21st-century Danish novelists
Danish male short story writers
Writers from Copenhagen
20th-century Danish short story writers
21st-century Danish short story writers
20th-century Danish male writers
21st-century Danish male writers
Politiken writers
Danish literary critics