Join us on Wednesday, July 13th at 1PM EST, for a virtual conversation between Ida Jessen and translator Martin Aitken at Scandinavia House. They’ll be joined by Désirée Ohrbeck to discuss and celebrate the English release of Jessen’s A Postcard for Annie, out on June 21st. You can register for the event here.

Ida Jessen is widely considered to be the master of psychological realism in contemporary Danish fiction. Having made her debut with the short-story collection Under Sten (Under Stone) in 1989, Jessen’s breakthrough came with the trilogy: Den der lyver (The One Who’s Lying; 2011), Det første jeg tænker (The First Thing I Think Of; 2006), and Børnene (The Children; 2009). The latter earned her the Booksellers Prize, the Golden Laurel and a nomination for the Nordic Council Literature Prize. Her short story collection, Postkort til Annie (Postcard to Annie; 2013) earned her another nomination for the Nordic Council Prize. Jessen was recently awarded the 2017 Critics’ Choice Award (April 2018) for The Anagrams of Doctor Bagge. She is also a recipient of the Lifetime Award from the Danish Arts Foundation.

Martin Aitken is the acclaimed translator of numerous novels from Danish and Norwegian, including works by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Peter Høeg, Jussi Adler-Olsen, and Pia Juul, and his translations of short stories and poetry have appeared in many literary journals and magazines. In 2012, he was awarded the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Nadia Christensen Translation Prize. In 2019. he was awarded the PEN Translation Prize for his translation of Love by Hanne Ørstavik.

Désirée Ohrbeck served as a Danish Lecturer at the Scandinavian Studies Department at University of Washington from 2010-2016. She is now a proud board member for University of Washington Scandinavian Studies Advisory Board. Désirée is a columnist writer for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and a frequent contributor in Danish media both on TV and radio. She has written op-eds, commentaries, and essays for Politiken, Berlingske Tidende and Jyllands-Posten.