Louisiana Literature

More than 40 publishers rejected the debut novel 'Shuggie Bain' by Scottish Douglas Stuart before it won the Booker prize in 2020. The jury behind the prize called it "destined to become a classic". In this intimate interview  Douglas Stuart tells the story behind the extraordinary novel  of a young queer boy in Glasgow in the 1980ies. Douglas Stuart was interviewed in August 2021 on stage at the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark by editor of culture Synne Rifbjerg. 

Meet American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, who reflects on the power of literature in general and poetry in particular. Foer argues that art always has a personal point of departure, where the artist confronts the world and rearranges it. Jonathan Safran Foer was interviewed by Synne Rifbjerg at the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in 2012

Experience award-winning Canadian writer Margaret Atwood in this humorous and vivid conversation about her works of elaborate ‘speculative fiction’, and how reality and science fiction are in fact inextricably intertwined.Margaret Atwood was interviewed by Synne Rifbjerg at the Louisiana Literature festival at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in August 2014.

Meet Peruvian Nobel Prize-winner Mario Vargas Llosa (b.1936), who talks about his literary beginnings and about the inherent power good literature has to make readers aware of another reality: “What we call civilisation is a process that started with this dissatisfaction with the world as it is.Mario Vargas Llosa was interviewed by Christian Lund at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in June 2019.

“I always move on with the strength of my writing.” In this powerful portrait, South Korean writer Han Kang – winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize – reveals the story of how she became an author, and how writing helps her pierce her distrust in human beings.Han Kang was interviewed by Christian Lund in May 2019 at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark.

“I think a poem really is a statement of desire.” Meet the legendary American poet, writer – and homosexual icon – Eileen Myles. In this interview, Myles discusses the innate power of poetry and how to address the absence of the female genitalia.Eileen Myles was interviewed by the Danish poet Mette Moestrup in August 2017 in connection with the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.

Paul  Auster shares the story of how he became a writer and how he works: “A good day’s work is if I have one typed page at the end of the day, two pages is great, three is a miracle.”Paul Auster was interviewed by Kasper Bech Dyg in Brooklyn, New York, December 2014.

Experience American writer Chris Kraus, author of the iconic feminist novel ‘I Love Dick’, in this passionate talk about the apolitical art scene and the challenges of being a woman in our contemporary consumer-focused world.Chris Kraus was interviewed by the feminist activist Emma Holten at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in connection with the Louisiana Literature festival in August 2017.

70-minute in-depth interview with rock singer and poet Patti Smith, who speaks about her National Book Award winning memoir 'Just Kids' and her life with literature, beginning when she was a child : “I thought we didn’t have to grow up. I was heartbroken to find out that we didn’t have a choice.” Patti Smith was interviewed by festival director Christian Lund at the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in 2012.

In this extensive interview, American Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Egan takes us through her career as a writer and explains why she considers fiction an invaluable document of our time: “By creating a kind of artefact of the dream-life of our culture, I am preserving it for those who want to understand it from a later point.” Jennifer Egan was interviewed by Kasper Bech Dyg at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in June 2019.