Louis Jensen

Louis Jensen in Decorah, Iowa 2008

The Danish author Louis Jensen (19 July 1943 – 4 March 2021) was an innovator in the international literary trends of flash fiction, metafiction, prose poetry, and magical realism.[1][2][3] While he published more than 90 books for both adults and children, he was best known for his children's books, which include picture books, short stories, flash fiction, creative nonfiction and novels.[4] His work is characterized by wordplay and playful experiments in form and structure, which have led critics to draw comparisons to Borges, Calvino, Gogol, and the poetry of the Oulipo movement.[5][6] His work is also rooted in the fairy tale and folk tale tradition, and is deeply influenced by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen.[7]

In 1992, Jensen published the first volume of 100 stories in his "Square Story" project. Over the course of the next 24 years, he accomplished his goal of writing 1001 of these very short stories, each in the shape of a square. The stories were collected into volumes of 100 stories each; in 2016, he published his tenth volume of 100 stories, and an eleventh volume with a single, final story.[8] The Danish author and literary critic Rikke Finderup has called this work "one of the most radical literary projects in all of Danish literature,"[9] and the Square Stories have found an audience among adult readers as well as children.[10][11]

In Jensen's many literary works for children and for adults, the reader encounters an imaginative landscape where anything can happen. According to critic Anna Karlskov Skyggebjerg, "In most of Louis Jensen's books, the main character has something to do with the supernatural, the magic, or the fantastic."[12] But like his literary forefathers H.C. Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, Jensen uses his fantastical settings to portray a world of real dangers, moral and physical, and real human experiences of love and loss. As Skyggebjerg remarks, "In Jensen's books, there is a great deal of cruelty and evil, but also love and friendship between different creatures and humans."[13]

Jensen received multiple awards and prizes. He was nominated several times for both of the most prestigious international awards in children's literature, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award[14] and the Hans Christian Andersen Award. He made the short list (5 authors, nominated from 34 countries) for the Hans Christian Andersen Award two times, in 2010 and again in 2016.[15] In 2002, he was chosen by the Danish National Art Foundation to be included on the roster of 275 Danish artists who are awarded an annual stipend for their lifelong contributions to the arts and culture of Denmark.[16] In 2014, he was nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize for his eighth collection of square stories, published in 2012. The Nordic Council praised the "humour and seriousness" of Jensen's work, suggesting that his stories have "brought greetings from Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll and E. T. A. Hoffman and other great poets to all the children and adults who just wanted to read along."[17]

  1. ^ Rasmussen, Line Beck (2008). "Playing with language and literature: Louis Jensen's 1001 stories". Bookbird. 46 (3): 30–36. doi:10.1353/bkb.0.0092. S2CID 146500269.
  2. ^ Sorensen, Henning Mørch (February 17, 2012). "Hjertets ambassadør". Information. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  3. ^ Larsen, Steffen (November 18, 2010). "Prisbelønnet børnebogsforfatter rammer efter plet". Politiken. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  4. ^ Löfström, Kamilla (May 14, 2009). "Op al den ting, som historier kan gøre". Information. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  5. ^ Jensen, Louis (April 2009). "Square Stories". Skolebiblioteket. 37 (3): 14.
  6. ^ Rasmussen, Line Beck (2008). "Playing with language and literature: Louis Jensen's 1001 stories". Bookbird. 46 (3): 33. doi:10.1353/bkb.0.0092. S2CID 146500269.
  7. ^ Rasmussen, Line Beck (2008). "Playing with language and literature: Louis Jensen's 1001 stories". Bookbird. 46 (3): 32. doi:10.1353/bkb.0.0092. S2CID 146500269.
  8. ^ Finderup, Rikke; Ipsen, Max (April 2006). "1001 firkanter--om Louis Jensens firkantede historier". Passage. 20 (52): 61.
  9. ^ Finderup, Rikke; Ipsen, Max (April 2005). "1001 firkanter--om Louis Jensens firkantede historier". Passage. 20 (52): 61. doi:10.7146/pas.v20i52.1413. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  10. ^ Beckett, Sandra L. (2008). Crossover Fiction: Global and Historical Perspectives. New York: Routledge. p. 54. ISBN 978-0415879361.
  11. ^ Larsen, Lauge (13 May 2005). "It's hip to be square: Louis Jensen 100 Meget Firkantede Historier". Litteratur.nu. Statens Kunstråd: Danish Arts Council. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  12. ^ Skyggebjerg, Anna Karlskov (2016)."Fantastic Tales and Poetic Square Stories: Important Features in the Danish Author Louis Jensen's Literature for Children." Bookbird (54.4): 43.
  13. ^ Skyggebjerg, Anna Karlskov (2016). "Fantastic Tales and Poetic Square Stories: Important Features in the Danish Author Louis Jensen's Literature for Children." Bookbird (54.4): 43.
  14. ^ "Candidates". Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  15. ^ "2010 Hans Christian Andersen Awards Shortlist". IBBY: International Board on Books for Young People. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  16. ^ "Modtagere af hædersydelse". kunst.dk. Statens Kunstfond. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  17. ^ "Nordic Council". Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize: Louis Jensen and Lilian Brøgger. Norden: Nordic Council. Retrieved November 6, 2014.