Hjorth’s grandparents were Danish, and one of the few books on their shelf was Danish writer Tove Ditlevsen’s childhood memoirs ‘Childhood’ (Barndom, 1967). This was the first adult book that Hjorth read, and it made a huge impact on her, not only because of Ditlevsen’s strength “but also her many tragedies…” German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht has also been a great inspiration to Hjorth, not least due to his vast societal insight: “He is a master at summing up complex political issues in short sentences and poems.”

Vigdis Hjorth (b. 1959) is a Norwegian writer, who has published a large selection of novels, essays and children’s books since 1983. Her 20^th novel ‘Arv og Miljø’ (Inheritance and Environment) was nominated for the Nordic Council’s Literature Prize 2017. The book deals with a family’s bitter inheritance dispute – and incest. The accusations about the father in the book led to intense debate in Norway about the boundaries between fiction and reality.

Vigdis Hjorth was interviewed by Anette Dina Sørensen at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark in May 2017.

Camera: Jakob Solbakken

Edited by: Klaus Elmer

Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2018

Supported by Nordea-fonden