Per Højholt (22 July 1928 – 15 October 2004) was a Danish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. Højholt had his debut in 1948 when he published "De nøgne" (The Naked Ones), a series of poems which appeared in the magazine ''

Heretica ''Heretica'' was a conservative cultural and literary magazine published in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1948 to 1953. History and profile ''Heretica'' was established in 1948. One of the founders was Thorkild Bjørnvig. It was largely inspired by ...

''. His first collection was '' Hesten og solen'', featuring religiously inspired poems. A major work came with ''Poetens hoved'' (The Head of the Poet) which appeared in 1963. This collection took a

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

stance and meant a break with late

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

. Although a highly experimental and unorthodox writer, he became a popular poet. This is not least due to '' Gittes monologer'' (Gitte's Monologues). He toured the country with his recitals of these monologues which received considerable attention. Højholt was awarded "Den store pris" from the

Danish Academy Danish Academy is an independent organisation founded in 1960 by a circle of Danish intellectuals "to promote Danish esprit and language, especially within the field of literature". It has up to 20 members, currently 18, and is based at Rungstedl ...

in 1982 and the

Holberg Medal The Holberg Medal ( Danish: ''Holberg-Medaljen'') is an award to a Danish author of fiction or writer on science. It is awarded by the Danish association of authors, and is an appreciation of a literary or scientific work or of the award winner's a ...

in 1997. A recognized writer, he was included in the

Danish Culture Canon The Danish Culture Canon () consists of 108 works of cultural excellence in eight categories: architecture, visual arts, design, design and crafts, film, literature, music, performing arts, and children's culture. An initiative of Brian Mikkelsen i ...

in 2006 for the poem, ''"Personen på toppen"''. Højholt was a

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

by profession and worked as such until 1966.

Works

References

External links

*
The Per Højholt Archives of the Royal Library
*
Per Højholt's tombstone at Vestre Kirkegård, Silkeborg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hojholt, Per Danish male poets 1928 births 2004 deaths Recipients of the Grand Prize of the Danish Academy 20th-century Danish poets 20th-century Danish male writers