Swedish writer Kerstin Ekman, one of Scandinavia’s most renowned authors, talks about how she uses her own experiences when writing and why we should be careful of writers when they try to preach to us about society.
In this interview Kerstin Ekman (b. 1933) explores her relationship to literature. Growing up in rural surroundings, reading was already important during childhood. Later on, especially Thomas Mann and other German authors draw Ekman’s attention. Then, because of a longer period of illness, Ekman starting writing herself – in the beginning concentrating on crime fiction. Very soon, Ekman tells, she found out, that the crime story format was not enough for her. She was getting more engaged in social issues. Especially nature, and society’s relationship to nature, has since played an important role in all her books. Importantly though, Ekman underlines, that writers do not have a moral higher than others. As the example of Strindberg has shown, you can be a brilliant author and at the same time have views on society and public life, which we should be be careful of listening to.
Kerstin Ekman was interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner during the Louisiana Literature festival, 2012.
Camera: Troels Kahl and Martin Kogi.
Produced by: Martin Kogi & Marc-Christoph Wagner
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2012
Supported by Nordea-fonden.
source
