Stig Dalager

Stig Dalager (born 1952) is a Danish writer. He is the author of 64 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 City 1999 starring Ingmar Bergman actress Bibi Andersson, since 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 International Dublin Literary Award 2008); The Labyrinth (a 2006 novel situated in Vienna anno 1993-1994) "Land of shadows" (a 2007 novel situated in New York on 9-11 on the World Trade Center); and "Slowly Comes the Light" (a 2009 novel, situated in Baghdad, New York and London 2004-2005). In 2012 the novel "The blue light" about Marie Curie was published and in 2013 "Eternity of the Moment", a novel about Søren Kierkegaard. 2015 his novel about Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg "Journey without End" was published and in 2017 his novel "Woman in a Century" about Elisabeth of Bohemia and his tale "The last days of the Rabby", also there was a worldpremiere of his play "Journey in light and Shadow" in New York. Latest novel (2020) is "Chaos and the World (Kaos og verden" about Trumps America and AI. All in all published and staged in 34 countries, among them Great Britain, USA, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Poland, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Russia, China and Japan.

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 Ph.D. 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, "Danske kvindelige forfattere 1-2".

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 (prose), drama, filmscripts 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 City, 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 Hours, 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 Århus-elegi (Aarhus eulogy) of 1986 represents his poetic breakthrough. His most recent collection, Den tynde væg (The thin Wall), was published in 2016.

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."

Three of his latest prose-works were the novels Journey in blue(about H.C. Andersen) published in 2004 (English 2006), The Labyrinth in 2006 and Land of shadows(about 9/11 in New York) in 2007. Dalager's 2017 novel Kvinde i et århundrede (Woman in a Century) about the first female philosopher in Europe, Elisabeth of Bohemia, and his 2020 Kaos og verden (Chaos and The World) about Trumps America and AI are his most recent to have been published.

Prose
  • Hærværksforeningen og andre noveller, 1980
  • Bergomi, novel, 1984
  • Jon, novel, 1986
  • Glemsel og erindring, novel, 1992.
  • Davids bog (David's Book), novel, 1995. (translated into Russian, Polish, English and more)
  • Fanget (Trapped), detective novel, 1998.
  • Tilfældige forbindelser (Casual relations), stories, 1998.
  • En dukkes histories (A Doll's Story), stories for children, 2000.
  • Øvelser i ensomhed (Exercises in Loneliness), novel, 2000.
  • To dage i july (Two Days in July), novel, 2002, (translated into 5 languages)
  • Opgøret med det entydige, essays, 2002.
  • Tilfældige forbindelser (Casual relations), prose trilogy, 2002–03.
  • Rejse i blåt (Journey in Blue), novel, 2004. (translated into 15 languages)
  • Labyrinten (The Labyrinth), novel, 2005.
  • "Land of shadows", novel, 2007.
  • Slowly comes the light, novel, 2009
  • The Long Day, novel, 2011
  • The Blue Light, novel, 2012
  • "Eternity of the Moment", novel, 2013
  • "Journey without End, novel", 2015
  • "Woman in a Century", novel, 2017
  • "The last days of the Rabby", tale, 2017
  • "Kaos og verden" (Chaos and The World), novel 2020

Plays
  • Monolog for ung mand (Monologue for a Young Man), radio play/ monologue, 1982
  • En aften i Hamburg (An Evening in Hamburg), play 1983–85
  • Nat i Venedig (Night in Venice), play, 1987, trans. Washington D.C., 1992
  • Nat med sne og kærlighed (Night With Snow and Love), radio play, 1987
  • Morgen i Århus (Morning in Aarhus), radio play, 1988
  • Mesteren og Margarita (The Master and Margarita), play, 1991
  • Herre og skygge (Lord and Shadow), play, 1992, trans. (staged in Washington D.C., Copenhagen, Moscow, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, Sofia and more)
  • En historie om forræderi (A Story About Treason), play, 1992.
  • Jeg tæller timerne (I Count the Hours), monologue, (staged in New York City, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen and other cities)
  • Længsler og skygger, play, 1995.
  • Drømmen (The Dream), play, trans. 1999. (New York, Moscow, Łódź, Copenhagen and other cities)
  • En halv times kærlighed (A Half Hour Love), play, 2001.
  • Ansigter (Faces), dia-monologue for an Israeli and Palestinian woman, New York, Copenhagen, 2005.
  • Family Night, play, 2005. (premiere in New York 2006 )
  • American Elektra, play, premiere in Beijing and Copenhagen 2007.
  • "Evening light, play, 2012
  • "Journey in light and shadow", play, 2017(worldpremiere in New York 2017)

filmscripts
  • 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
  • Mørke og forsoning, documentary film from the West Bank and Israel, 2003. (Darkness and reconciliation)
  • " Land of shadows", script for filmadaptation of "Land of shadows" (2020)
  • " Journey in blue", script for filmadaptation of "Journey in blue" (2020)

libretti
  • Kærlighed og forræderi, opera libretto for Niels Marthinsen, 1997.

Poetry collections
  • 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).
  • "Ildfluerne danser", 2012 (Århus EC Edition)
  • "Den tynde væg", 2016 (Århus EC Edition)

-- Essays --

  • "Opgøret med det entydige", Essays and articles, 2000
  • "Ansøgning om at være menneske", Essays and articles, 2009
  • "Nedtælling for humanismen", Essays and articles, 2018
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