Dan Turèll (March 19, 1946 – October 15, 1993), affectionately nicknamed " Danny" (English: ''Uncle Danny''), was a popular Danish

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

with notable influence on Danish literature. His work crossed a number of genres including

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

, beat literature and

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

. Turèll was born 19 March 1946 in Vangede on the outskirts of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Much of his works were partially autobiographical and inspired by his hometown, though is portrayal of Vesterbro is often considered romantic rather than realistic. His work often references themes Americanisation, drawing on the

beat generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

and the teachings of

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

. Turèll published much of his material himself, especially early in his career. He wrote in both Danish and English and has been translated into Dutch, Estonian, French, German, Norwegian, Swedish and Serbian. He died from

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer (American English) or oesophageal cancer (British English) is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include dysphagia, difficulty in swallowing and weigh ...

and is buried at Assistens Cemetery. On Sunday March 19, 2006, on what would have been his 60th birthday, part of the town square of ''Halmtorvet'' in the Kødbyen area of Copenhagen was named (English: 'Uncle Danny's Square') in his honour. The square Dan Turèlls Plads in his native Vangede was named for him on 9 March 2007.

Selected bibliography

Dan Turèll was a highly prolific writer, contributing to numerous anthologies within his time and collections of his works continued to be arranged after his death. In addition to his literary work, he wrote a vast number of articles and essays for newspapers and various magazines. As a result, the following bibliography is in no way complete. Danish literary critic and writer, Lars Bukdahl, said that Turèll "only lived to the age of 47, and it is as though he knew he had to hurry".In The Danish Literature Centre's biography of Dan Turèll; see direct link under ''External links''

Cut-up literature

* ''Changes of Light'', 1970 * ''Occult Confessions'', 1970 * ''Speed of Light'', 1970. * ''Opsvulmede byer i sigtekornet flagrende skud i bevidstheden'' (English: ''Inflated Cities in the Sight Fluttering Shots in the Consciousness''), 1972. * ''Sidste forestilling bevidstløse trancebilleder af eksploderende spejltricks igennem flyvende tidsmaskine af smeltende elektriske glasfotos'' (English: ''Last Performance of Unconscious Trance Images of Exploding Mirror Tricks through Flying Time Machine of Melting Electrical Glass Photos''), 1972 * ''Feuilleton 1: Faraway Signs'' (English: ''Serial 1: Faraway Signs''), 1972 * ''Feuilleton 2: Laser Time Switch'' (English: ''Serial 2: Laser Time Switch''), 1972 * ''Feuilleton 3: Filmen synker igennem Deres øjne'' (English: ''Serial 3: The Film Sinks Through Your Eyes''), 1972 * ''Feuilleton 4: The Edison Kinetogram'' (English: ''Serial 4: The Edison Kinetogram''), 1972 * ''Feuilleton 5: It's Just Another Whistle Stop'' (English: ''Serial 5: It's Just Another Whistle Stop''), 1973 * ''Feuilleton 6: Not Fade Away ...'' (English: ''Serial 6: Not Fade Away ...''), 1973 * ''Feuilleton 7: Deres kodeskrift under Dobbelt Sol'' (English: ''Serial 7: Your Cipher under Double Sun''), 1973 * ''Feuilleton 8: Strangers in the Night'' (English: ''Serial 8: Strangers in the Night''), 1978

Novels

* ''Dét døgn, da -'' (English: ''That Day, When -''), 1992

The Murder Series

The so-called ''Mord-serie'' (English: ''Murder Series'') consists of ten novels and two volumes of short stories in the "American" school of crime fiction, known from writers like

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

. All twelve volumes follow the same protagonist, a nameless detective / reporter, a freelance writer for a fictitious Copenhagen newspaper, plainly called ''Bladet'' (English: ''The Paper''). In each novel the protagonist is hurled into a new murder mystery, often along recurring characters, centrally among them ''Politiinspektør Ehlers'' (English: ''Chief Inspector Ehlers''). The stories are self contained, but settings, relations, and characters evolve as the series progress. The series primarily takes place in an alternate version of the borough of Vesterbro in Copenhagen, which serves as a backdrop for considerably more criminal endeavours than real life will probably ever match. Also certain aspects of the city's geography has been altered. Certain streets lie differently, for instance. * ''Mord i mørket'' (English: ''Murder in the Dark''), 1981 * ''Mord i Rodby'' (English: ''Murder in Rodby''), 1981 * ''Mord ved Runddelen'' (English: ''Murder by the Circle''), 1983 * ''Mord på Malta'' (English: ''Murder on Malta''), 1983 * ''Mord i marts'' (English: ''Murder in March''), 1984 * ''Mord i september'' (English: ''Murder in September''), 1984 * ''Mord i myldretiden'' (English: ''Murder during Rush Hour''), 1985 * ''Mord på møntvaskeriet og andre kriminalhistorier'' (English: ''Murder in the Launderette and Other Crime Stories''), short stories, 1986 * ''Mord i rendestenen'' (English: ''Murder in the Gutter''), 1987 * ''Mord i Paradis'' (English: ''Murder in Paradise''), 1988 * ''Mord på medierne'' (English: ''Murder on the Media''), 1988 * ''Mord på markedet'' (English: ''Murder on the Market''), 1989 * ''Mord i San Francisco'' (English: ''Murder in San Francisco''), 1989

Poetry

* ''Vibrationer'' (English: ''Vibrations''), 1966 * ''40 ark'' (English: ''40 Sheets''), 1969 * ''40 linier'' (English: ''40 Lines''), 1969 * ''Manuskripter I: Øjne/Further instructions'' (English: ''Manuscripts I: Eyes/Further Instructions''), 1970 * ''Manuskripter II: Af beskrivelsen af det/Hvidt lys'' (English: ''Manuscripts II: From the Description of It/White Light''), 1970 * ''Manuskripter om hvad som helst'' (English: ''Manuscripts about anything''), 1971. * ''Bevægelser, formålsløst cirklende'' (English: ''Movements, pointlessly circling''), 1971 * ''Dobbeltskrift'' (English: ''Double Writing''), 1973 – with Peter Laugesen * ''Onkel Danny's dadaistiske discjockey djellaba jazzjungle joysticks'' (English: ''Uncle Danny's Dadaistic Disc-Jockey Djellaba Jazz-Jungle Joysticks''), 1973 * ''Sekvens af Manjana – den endeløse sang flimrende igennem hudens pupiller'' (English: ''Sequence of Manjana, the Endless Song Flickering through the Pupils of the Skin''), 1973 * ''Lissom'' (English: ''Like''), 1973 * ''Digte m. m.'' (English: ''Poems and more''), 1973 – with Peter Laugesen, Jens Smærup Sørensen, & Henning Mortensen * ''Onkel Danny's drivende dansende dirrende dinglende daskende dryppende danske dåse-digte'' (English: ''Uncle Danny's Driving Dancing Dithering Dangling Dawdling Dripping Danish Dried Poems''), 1974 * ''Onkel Danny's deliristiske jukebox jitterbug'' (English: ''Uncle Danny's Delirious Jukebox Jitterbug''), 1974 * ''Karma Cowboy'' (English: ''Karma Cowboy''), 1974; shortened version released in 1983 * ''Drive-in digte: non-stop neon-nat lys-avis'' (English: ''Drive-In Poems: Non-Stop Neon-Night Electric Newspaper''), 1976 * ''Nytår i Rom'' (English: ''New Year in Rome''), 1976 * ''Live-show feed-back: 5 sæt af Bøgernes Bog'' (English: ''Live-Show Feed-Back: 5 Sets of the Book of Books''), 1976 * ''3-D digte'' (English: ''3-D Poems''), 1977 * ''Storby-Blues'' (English: ''Big City Blues''), 1977 * ''Vesterbrobilleder'' (English: ''Images of Vesterbro''), 1977 – with photos by Kurt Lesser * ''Onkel Danny's små sorte sitrende swingende saxsoli sæbeboble-sange'' (English: ''Uncle Danny's Small Sable Shuddering Swinging Sax Solos Soapbubble Songs''), 1978 * ''Onkel Danny's rullende rallende regnvejrs ragtime rhapsodi'' (English: ''Uncle Danny's Rolling Rollicking Rainstorm Ragtime Rhapsody''), 1979 * ''Døgn-digte: udvalgte digte fra 70'erne'' (English: ''24 Hour Poems: Selected Poems from the 70s''), 1979 * ''Ulysses' spejl'' (English: ''Ulysses' Mirror''), 1981 – with Henrik Nordbrandt, illustrated by Barry Lereng Wilmont * ''Alhambra blues'' (English: ''Alhambra Blues''), 1983 * ''Kom forbi: sange & recitationer'' (English: ''Drop By: Songs & Recitals''), 1984 * ''Jazz-digte: et udvalg 1966–1986'' (English: ''Jazz Poems: A Selection 1966–1986''), 1986 – illustrated by Peter Hentze * ''Forklædt til genkendelighed: sange, digte & recitationer'' (English: ''Recognizably Disguised: Songs, Poems & Recitals''), 1988 * ''Himalaya Hilton'' (English: ''Himalaya Hilton''), 1991 * ''Gud & Gokke'' (English: ''The Lord & Hardy''), 1992 * ''Tja-a Cha-Cha'' (English: ''Tja-a Cha-Cha''), 1993 * ''Udvalgte digte 1: 1969–1974'' (English: ''Selected Poems 1: 1969–1974''), 2003 * ''Udvalgte digte 2: 1973–1993'' (English: ''Selected Poems 2: 1973–1993''), 2004

Prose

* ''Områder af skiftende tæthed og tomhed'' (English: ''Areas of Alternating Density and Void''), 1970 * ''Film'' (English: ''Film''), 1973 – with Henrik Have * ''Vangede billeder'' (English: ''Images of Vangede''), memoirs, 1975 * ''

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

/ William S. Burroughs/

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

: 3 medie-montager'' (English: ''Ezra Pound/William S. Burroughs/Lou Reed: 3 Media Montages''), 1975 * ''Rockens rødder. Medie-montager II'' (English: ''The Roots of Rock. Media Montages II''), 1975 * ''SuperShowStjerneStøv. Medie-Montager III'' (English: ''SuperShowStarDust. Media Montages III''), 1976 * ''Onkel Danny fortæller'' (English: ''Uncle Danny Relates''), memoirs, 1976 * ''Af Livets Laboratorium. Medie-Montager IV'' (English: ''From the Lab of Life. Media Montages IV''), 1977 * ''MenneskeMyteMaskinen. Medie-Montager V'' (English: ''ManMythMachine. Media Montages V''), 1977 * ''Livets karrusel'' (English: ''The Merry-Go-Round of Life''), 1977 * ''Onkel Danny fortæller videre'' (English: ''Uncle Danny Relates Further''), memoirs, 1978 * ''Onkel Sams sønner. Medie-Montager VI'' (English: ''Uncle Sam's Sons. Media Montages VI''), 1978 * ''Alverdens vampyrer: første forestilling på Grusomhedens Teater eller En idés rejse fra 5000 f. Kristus til i dag'' (English: ''All the World's Vampires: First Performance of the Theatre of Cruelty or The Journey of an Idea from 5000 b. Christ until Today''), 1978 * ''Amerikanske ansigter: udvalgte artikler fra 70'erne'' (English: ''American Faces: Selected Articles from the 70's''), 1979 * ''Møde i Garda: en fortælling i forbigående'' (English: ''Meeting in Garda: A Story in Passing''), 1979 * ''Dan Turèll i byen: 50 historier af Københavns-krøniken fortalt fra dag til dag'' (English: ''Dan Turèll on the Town: 50 Stories from the Copenhagen Chronicle told from Day to Day''), 1979 – illustrated by Peder Nyman * ''Onkel Danny fortæller i timevis'' (English: ''Uncle Danny Relates for Hours on End''), 1979 * ''Dan Turèll – et udvalg omkring en generation'' (English: ''Dan Turèll – A Selection About a Generation''), 1981 * ''Onkel Danny fortæller på talløse opfordringer'' (English: ''Uncle Danny Relates by Countless Requests''), memoirs, 1982 * ''Dan Turèll i byen igen: 50 historier af Københavns-krøniken fortalt fra dag til dag'' (English: ''Dan Turèll on the Town Again: 50 Stories from the Copenhagen Chronicle told from Day to Day''), 1982 – illustrated by Peder Nyman * ''Omkring på Brevduebanen'' (English: ''Around at the Carrier Pigeon Track''), 1982 * ''Dansk dragefestival 1964–1984'' (English: ''Danish Kite Festival 1964–1984''), 1984 – with Bjarne Lynnerup * ''Sort film: en privat dagbog omkring kriminalgenren'' (English: ''Film Noir: A Private Journal about the Crime Genre''), 1984 * ''Shu-Bi-Dua – melodierne, teksterne, historien'' (English: ''Shu-Bi-Dua'' – the Melodies, the Lyrics, the Story), 1984 – essay by Turèll, note sheets and lyrics by Shu-Bi-Dua * ''Dan Turèll i byen så det basker: 50 historier af Københavns-krøniken fortalt fra dag til dag'' (English: ''Dan Turèll on the Town with a Vengeance: 50 Stories from the Copenhagen Chronicle told from Day to Day''), 1985 – illustrated by Peder Nyman * ''Don Dobbeltliv og andre historier fra Stjernecaféen'' (English: '' Don Double-Life and Other Stories from Star Café''), short stories, 1985 * ''Nekrolog – blues for --'' (English: ''Necrologue – Blues for --'', 1987 – illustrated by Peter Hentze * ''Blues for Buddha'' (English: ''Blues for Buddha''), 1988 – illustrated by Peter Hentze * ''Dan Turèll i byen – i dén grad!: 50 historier af Københavns-krøniken fortalt fra dag til dag'' (English: ''Dan Turèll on the Town – and how!: 50 Stories from the Copenhagen Chronicle told from Day to Day''), 1988 – illustrated by Peder Nyman * ''As time goes by – :klip fra den fortsatte scrap-bog'' (English: ''As Time Goes By -: Cuts from the Continued Scrapbook''), 1989 * ''Dan Turèll i byen – og i baggårdene: 50 historier af Københavns-krøniken fortalt fra dag til dag'' (English: ''Dan Turèll on the Town – and in the Backyards: 50 Stories from the Copenhagen Chronicle told from Day to Day''), 1991 * ''Undervejs med Copenhagen All Stars: et jazzband på turné i Danmark'' (English: ''On the Road with Copenhagen All Stars: A Jazzband on Tour in Denmark''), 1991 * ''Dan Turèll i byen – for sidste gang: 37 historier af Københavns-krøniken fortalt fra dag til dag'' (English: ''Dan Turèll on the Town – One Last Time: 37 Stories from the Copenhagen Chronicle told from Day to Day''), 1994 * ''Just a gigolo: klip fra den store scrap-bog 1989–93'' (English: ''Just a Gigolo: Cuts from the Great Scrapbook 1989–93''), 1995 * ''En nat ved højttaleren med sprogets mikrofon: rariteter, 1964–79'' (English: ''A Night by the Speaker with the Mic of Language: rarities, 1964–79''), 2003 * ''Medie-montager: greatest hits'' (English: ''Media Montages: Greatest Hits''), 2003 * ''

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...

i Istedgade: tekster om jazz'' (English: ''Charlie Parker in Istedgade: Texts about jazz''), 2006

Spoken Word Recordings

* ''Dansk tale: to monologer'' (English: ''Danish Speech: Two Monologues''), MC, 1981 * ''Dan Turèll & Sølvstjernerne'' (English: ''Dan Turèll & the Silver Stars''), LP, 1991; CD, 1993 – with music by Sølvstjernerne * ''Pas på pengene!'' (English: ''Watch the Money''), CD, 1993 – with music by Halfdan E * ''Glad i åbningstiden'' (English: ''Happy During Opening Hours''), CD, 1996 – with music by Halfdan E * ''Dan Turèll & Sølvstjernerne vender tilbage'' (English: ''Dan Turèll & the Silver Stars Return''), CD, 2004 – with music by Sølvstjernerne

Works in English

* ''The Total-Copy System'', poetry, 1971. * ''A Draft of XXX Space Cantos'', crossover poetry, 1972 * ''Here Comes Your 19th Nervous Breakdown/Stones: Last Words 1972'', poem, 1973 * ''Another Draft of Space Cantos'', crossover poetry, 1974 * ''A Third Draft of Space Cantos'', crossover poetry, 1974 * ''Feuilleton 8: Strangers in the Night'' (English: ''Serial 8: Strangers in the Night''), 1978 * ''And all that jazz: Copenhagen Jazz Festival'' (English: ''And All That Jazz: Copenhagen Jazz Festival''), photobook; text in both Danish and English – photos by Gorm Valentin

Adaptations

* His novels, ''Mord i mørket'' (English: ''Murder in the Dark'') and ''Mord i Paradis'' (English: ''Murder in Paradise'') both from 1981 were made into film in 1986 and 1988 respectively. * In 2006 a musical theatre production, ''Onkel Danny'', was made about his life.

References

External links

Turèll-samlingen (The Turèll Collection)
at Vangede Public Library; homepage in Danish * *
Profile of Dan Turèll
at The Danish Literature Centre {{DEFAULTSORT:Turell, Dan 1946 births 1993 deaths Danish male poets Danish male novelists Danish crime fiction writers Writers from Copenhagen Deaths from esophageal cancer in Denmark 20th-century Danish novelists 20th-century Danish poets People from Vangede People from Gentofte Municipality 20th-century Danish male writers