Born 1935 in Vejle, died 2009; Inger Christensen was a Danish poet, novelist and essayist and one of the formative voices of twentieth-century European literature. After leaving school in Vejle she studied in Copenhagen and qualified as a teacher in Aarhus in 1958; from 1955 her poems were already appearing in the journal Hvedekorn. With the collections “Lys” and “Græs” and above all with “det”, “alfabet” and “Sommerfugledalen” she developed a poetic language in which formal systems, observation of nature and existential experience interlock closely. Her output ranges from poetry and prose to radio and television plays, essays and translations; she was a member of Det Danske Akademi from 1978 and received numerous Danish and international literary prizes.
Inger Christensen
Poet / Novelist / Essayist
