Explore a selection of Danish literature in English translation with a new nationwide virtual book club! Organized as part of the new National Danish Book Club and Literary Event Series on September 14th, we will discuss our first selection over Zoom, Helle Helle’s This Should Be Written in the Present Tense translated by Martin Aitken. Helle Helle is a celebrated author in Denmark.

Dorte is 20 and adrift, pretending to study literature at Copenhagen University. In reality she is riding the trains and clocking up random encounters in her new home by the railway tracks. She remembers her ex, Per – the first boyfriend she tells us about, and the first she leaves – as she enters a new world of transient relationships, random sexual experiences and awkward attempts to write.

The National Danish Book Club and Literary Event Series is brought to you by American-Scandinavian Foundation, Scan Design Foundation, Museum of Danish America, Northwest Danish Association, National Foundation for Danish America, National Nordic Museum, University of Wisconsin – Madison, and the University of Washington Scandinavian Studies Department.

Book Club Discussions will be moderated by Faculty Associate Nete Schmidt from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.