Mette Winge (5 January 1937 – 15 April 2022, Copenhagen) was a Danish writer,

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and director of cultural radio broadcasting at

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 ...

. She made her debut as a writer in 1988 with the novel ''Skrivejomfruen'' based on the life of the 18th-century Danish author Charlotta Dorothea Biehl. It was the first of many widely read historical novels and detective stories.

Early life, education and family

Winge was born on 5 January 1937 in the

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 ...

district of

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, the daughter of the dental technician Hugo Hagen (1903–91) and Grethe Marie Wilton (1913–95). After matriculating from Gentofte School in 1955, she first studied languages, taught for a period as a substitute teacher, studied librarianship at the

Royal School of Library and Information Science The Royal School of Library and Information Science (abbr. RSLIS, ) is a school under the University of Copenhagen that provides higher education in the field of library and information science. It has now merged with another department to Departm ...

graduating in 1960, and went on to study literary history at the

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

, earning a master's degree in 1965. In October 1962, she married Peter Winge, with whom she had two children: Ulrik (1965) and Kristian (1967).

Career

On graduating, she worked as a lecturer in literary history at the library school and in parallel became a literary reviewer at ''

Berlingske Tidende ''Berlingske'', previously known as ''Berlingske Tidende'' (, 'Berling's Times'), is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen. It is considered a newspaper of record for Denmark. First published on 3 January 1749, ''Berlingske'' is ...

'' as well as a reviewer at ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

''. In the 1980s, she also held managerial positions in connection with literature and theatre at

, after which she devoted her time to writing. She became increasingly involved in literary criticism, publishing ''Kritikhistorie – en antologi'' (History of Criticism - an Anthology) in 1972. She then turned to children's literature, pioneering its inclusion in literary research supported by a number of publications in the early 1990s. As a novelist, she made a successful debut with ''Skriverjomfruen'' in 1988 about the 18th-century writer Charlotta Dorothea Biehl which was later dramatized. She went on to write several detective stories including ''Novemberlys'' (1990), ''Sandflugt'' (1991), ''Den femte vinter'' (1993) and ''Grønt mørke'' (1994). More recently, she wrote stage plays, children's books and more novels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winge, Mette 1937 births 2022 deaths People from Frederiksberg Danish women literary critics 20th-century Danish women writers 21st-century Danish women writers Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Danish literary historians