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 ...

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.

“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.

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.

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.

”The blood that moves through me right now is my great grandfather's blood, but the reason I know him, is because I read Ulysses” says Irish writer Colum McCann in this interview about James Joyce’s modernist novel. Colum McCann was interviewed by journalist Synne Rifbjerg backstage at the Louisiana Literature festival in August 2013.

“My writing became ventilation for my frustrations on the art scene.” Meet Norwegian visual artist and writer Matias Faldbakken, who has been described as “one of Scandinavia’s most important and most provoking authors.” In this video, Faldbakken talks about how both his novels and his art centre on the antagonistic. Matias Faldbakken was interviewed by Klaus Rothstein in connection with the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, Denmark in August 2019.

“It is important to be able to write about violence with the same intimacy with which I write about love.” Enjoy this cordial interview with Indian Booker Prize-winning author Arundhati Roy, who discusses writing about modern India and its many internal borders, in connection with her praised 2017-novel ‘The Ministry of Utmost Happiness’. Arundhati Roy was interviewed by Danish writer Merete Pryds Helle in May 2018 at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.

“The urge to create and the urge to copulate are very close.” In this interview the iconic feminist writer Erica Jong speaks candidly of being fuelled creatively by desire, her experiences as a female writer and what she has come to realize about men. Erica Jong was interviewed by Pejk Malinovski in connection with the Louisiana Literature festival in Denmark, August 2016.

“I became a writer once I realised no one liked my stuff.” Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey’s favourite author, Pulitzer Prize-winning Colson Whitehead, on how rejections of his first stab at a novel made him realize that he wanted to pursue writing. Colson Whitehead was interviewed by Tonny Vorm in August 2017 in connection with the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.

Meet American poet Ariana Reines, who has been described as one of the crucial voices of her generation. In this video, she talks openly about how extreme familial circumstances “pushed” her into poetry, and how writing lets you enter the deepest levels of experience. Ariana Reines was interviewed by Christian Lund in October 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“Anti-black racism is at the core. It is part of what makes America, America,” says the award-winning American poet and writer Claudia Rankine. In this powerful interview, she speaks openly about contemporary America – about Trump, whiteness as “a valued property”, and the inherent anti-black racism. Claudia Rankine was interviewed by Synne Rifbjerg in August 2019 at the Louisiana Literature festival in Denmark.

“There’s never a good time to tell your child about slavery, or the Holocaust.” Since she made her astonishing literary debut with ‘White Teeth’ in 2000, Zadie Smith has continued writing bestselling novels, making her one of the most prominent figures on the British literary scene. In this extensive, absorbing interview, Smith talks about her 2016-novel ‘Swing Time’, her Jamaican heritage and writing: “It’s almost like acting. What would it be like if I were a dancer instead of a writer? …...