HCA NEWS New biography on Hans Christian Andersen

Major biography casts new light on the life and works of Hans Christian Andersen.

By Mikkel Stjernberg - H.C. Andersen 2005 - 26 November 2003

Author and man of letters Jens Andersen has written a thoroughly-researched, major new biography of Hans Christian Andersen that covers the entirety of Hans Christian Andersen's works, as well as aspects of the writer's life that have hitherto received little or no attention.

ANDERSEN - A Biography, to be released by Gyldendal Publishers on 27 November 2003, has been supported by Hans Christian Andersen 2005. Jens Andersen has written an original book that makes situations come alive for the reader.

Nuanced presentation
Jens Andersen's nuanced presentation of Hans Christian Andersen challenges the widespread view of the gentle writer with a childlike imagination, which has to a great extent overshadowed other, darker aspects of the author's life. That one must endure great travails to become famous - that we all knew.

However, probably no one has truly realized what travails Andersen went through and what wretched and impoverished conditions he came from. Jens Andersen has been through the archives and what he can relate about the poverty and loose morals of Denmark at the beginning of the nineteenth century will surprise most.

New aspects
Because Jens Andersen casts light on new aspects of the life and work of Hans Christian Andersen, ANDERSEN - A Biography will play an important role in setting the stage for the celebration of Hans Christian Andersen's 200th birthday in 2005. The purpose of the bicentennial jubilee, which will be celebrated in Denmark and throughout the world, is to provide to as many people as possible a wider acquaintance with all facets of his writings. 

In this major work, Jens Andersen grapples not only with Andersen's famous fairytales but also with his novels, short stories, dramas, poems, prose sketches, tales, travel books and autobiographies as well.

Four years with Andersen
Jens Andersen has been working on Hans Christian Andersen for the past four years. He has previously written critically-acclaimed and widely-read biographies of Tom Kristensen, Tove Ditlevsen, Thit Jensen and Aksel Sandemose and, with ANDERSEN - A Biography, he has created a work imbued with the same enthusiasm and dynamic language as his earlier biographies. 

ANDERSEN - A Biography is the first in-depth presentation of  Hans Christian Andersen's life and work in Denmark, since the English scholar Jackie Wullschlager published her comprehensive biography, Hans Christian Andersen: The Life of a Storyteller, in 2000.

ANDERSEN - A Biography will be released by Gyldendal Publishers on 27 November 2003. The book is copiously illustrated, comprising a total of 1000 pages. 
Price:  DKK 498 and DKK 598.



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