Stig Dalager

Stig Dalager (born 1952) is a Danish writer. He is the author of 47 literary works of all kinds, mostly novels and plays of which several have been translated or staged internationally. His works include "I count the hours", a monologue for a woman in Sarajevo (1993) (staged in 12 countries), "The Dream", play (premiered in New York 1999 starring Ingmar Bergman actress Bibi Andersson, since then staged in Moscow and Łódź), "Two Days in July" (a 2004 novel about the German officers' rebellion against the Nazi regime on July 20, 1944), "Journey in Blue", a biographical novel about Hans Christian Andersen (published in 15 countries and languages and nominated for The Impac Prize 2008), "The Labyrinth" (a 2006 fictional novel situated in Vienna anno 1993-1994) and "Falling Shadows" (a 2007 fictional novel situated in New York at the 9/11th during the terror-attack on World Trade Center).

Biography

Dalager was born in Copenhagen in the post-war period of the 1950s, a time of painful remembrances of the Second World War, continued economic restrictions, and a growing optimism about the future. His parents were grocers throughout the 1950s and 1960s, until his father was struck by Parkinson's disease. He describes his radically changing family structure as he and his two younger brothers moved with their parents to the provincial town of Herning in Jutland, near to where his father had been raised. There he graduated from high school, after which he attended the University of Århus, where he received his Master’s degree and a PhD in comparative literature. It was there also where he became involved in the student movement of the 1970s. With his then fiancée, Anne Marie Mai, he wrote several books on literature, including a two-volume study of Danish women writers from the Middle Ages to contemporary times.

In 1982 Dalager left the University of Copenhagen to live as a writer, which he has continued to do since. He has written poetry, fiction, drama and essays. Several of his poems and novels have been translated into other languages, and he has seen his plays staged in Moscow, New York, Berlin, and other cities around the world.

Dalager’s work concentrates on the existential conditions of both ordinary people and contemporary and historical known persons, with moments of psychological soul-searching expressed within a multitude of differing conditions. Dalager’s diverse gallery of characters ranges from the woman of his Sarajevo monologue, "I Count the Hour", to Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen in the play "Lord and Shadow" and the novel "Journey in blue"; from the dissident Count Claus Stauffenberg and Adolf Hitler in his novel "To dage i juli" ("Two Days in July")to dr. Simon Wiesenthal in his novel "Labyrinten" ("The Labyrinth"). the 11th of sept.

The poetry cycle "Århaus-elegi" ("Aarhus eulogy") of 1986 represents his poetic breakthrough. His most recent collection, "Himlen åbner sig" ("The Sky Opens"), was published in 2000.

Dalager writes of his own poetry: "For me poetry gives room for a more intimate and personal reflection in an attempt to 'answer' some of the changes of our times. What has particularly been of interest for me as a poet is to try to find the words for the vanitas of things in the midst of our modern living. Having two daughters, 9 and 11 years of age, I have more and more come to see the emotions of love as the most important source of my writing."

Two of his latest prose-works were the novels "Journey in blue" published in 2004 (in English 2006) and "The Labyrinth" published in 2006. 2007 Dalagers latest novel "Skyggeland" (Falling Shadows) was published.

Prose-works and plays

*"Hærværksforeningen og andre noveller", 1980
*"Monolog for ung mand", radio play/ monologue, 1982
*"En aften i Hamburg", play ("An Eve in Hamburg") 1983-85
*"Bergomi", novel, 1984
*"Jon", novel, 1986
*"Nat i Venedig", play, 1987, trans. "Night in Venice", Washington D.C., 1992
*"Nat med sne og kærlighed", radio play, 1987
*"Morgen i Århus", ("Morning in Aarhus") radio play, 1988
*"I fremmed havn",("In a Foreign Harbour") film, 1990
*"Ved havet" ("At the sea"), TV film, 1991
*"Møde i natten",("Meeting in the night") TV film, 1991
*"Mesteren og Margarita", play, ("The Master and the Margarita") 1991
*"Herre og skygge", play, 1992, trans. Lord and Shadow" (staged in Washington D.C., Copenhagen, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, Sofia and more)
*"En historie om forræderi", play, 1992. ("A Story about treason")
*"Glemsel og erindring", novel, 1992. ("To forget and to remember")
*"Jeg tæller timerne", monologue, ("I count the hours") (staged in New York, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen and other cities)
*"Længsler og skygger", play, 1995.
*"Davids bog", novel, 1995. "David's book" (translated into Russian, Polish and more)
*"Kærlighed og forræderi", opera libretto for Niels Marthinsen 1997.
*"Fanget", detective novel, 1998.
*"Tilfældige forbindelser", stories, 1998. ("Casual relations")
*"Drømmen", play, trans. "The Dream", 1999. (New York, Moscow, Łódź, Copenhagen and other cities)
*"En dukkes historier", stories for children, 2000.
*"Øvelser i ensomhed", novel, 2000. (Exercises in loneliness)
*"En halv times kærlighed", play, 2001. ("A half hour of love")
*"To dage i juli", novel, 2002 , "Two days in July" (translated into 5 languages)
*"Opgøret med det entydige", essays, 2002.
*"Tilfældige forbindelser", "Casual relations" prose trilogy, 2002-03.
*"Mørke og forsoning", documentary film from the West Bank and Israel, 2003. ("Darkness and reconciliation")
*"Rejse i blåt", novel, 2004. "Journey in Blue" (translated into 15 languages)
*"Family Night", play, 2005. (premiere in New York 2006 )
*"Ansigter", "Faces" dia-monologue for an Israeli and Palestinian woman, New York, Copenhagen, 2005.
*"Labyrinten", novel, 2005, "The Labyrinth"
*"American Elektra", play, premiere in Beijing and Copenhagen 2007.
*"Falling shadows", novel, 2007.

Books of Poetry

*"Opløsningstiden" (Denmark: Arkona, 1982)
*"Lindholmen station" (Valby, Denmark: Helka, 1985)
*"Provinsidyl" [with Peter Nielsen] (Valby, Denmark: Borgen, 1986)
*"Århus-elegi" (Valby, Denmark: Borgen, 1986)
*"Vinter" (Viby, Denmark: Centrum, 1987)
*"Ansigt og årstid" (Valby, Denmark: Borgen, 1988)
*"Hjernen er en rød station" (Copenhagen: Brøndum, 1989)
*"Floden under huset" (Valby, Denmark: Borgen, 1992)
*"Wienerdage" (Valby, Denmark: Borgen, 1994)
*"Og du skal vågne igen" (Copenhagen: Per Kofod, 1996)
*"Himlen åbner sig" (Copenhagen: Tiderne Skifter, 2000).