
Of Darkness
ABOUT
THE BOOK
In this genre-bending apocalyptic novel, Josefine Klougart fuses myriad literary styles in poetic meditations on life and death interspersed with haunting imagery. Her experimental novel asks readers to reconsider death, asserting sorrow and loss as beautiful and necessary aspects of living.
Hailed as “the Virginia Woolf of Scandinavia,” Klougart mixes prose, lyric essay, drama, poetry, and images to breathtaking effect in her writing, and Of Darkness, coming on the heels of Open Letter’s release of Klougart’s English-language debut One of Us is Sleeping, marks the arrival of a wholly new literary talent and original voice in world literature.
ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Martin
Aitken
Martin Aitken’s translations of Scandinavian literature are numerous. His work has appeared on the shortlists of the DUBLIN Literary Award (2017) and the US Book Awards (2018), as well as the 2021 International Booker Prize. For his translation of Hanne Ørstavik’s Love he received the 2019 PEN America Translation Prize.
Martin Aitken’s translations of Scandinavian literature are numerous. His work has appeared on the shortlists of the DUBLIN Literary Award (2017) and the US Book Awards (2018), as well as the 2021 International Booker Prize. For his translation of Hanne Ørstavik’s Love he received the 2019 PEN America Translation Prize.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
Klougart’s novel relates skinlessly to the human condition. Of Darkness becomes a kin to basic research in what it means to be human. An attempt to catch the sensation – to see, hear, experience. Once again Klougart, with her particularly lyrical voice and impressionistic style, extends the boundaries of what can be said in a novel.