Peter Høeg (born 17 May 1957) is a Danish writer of fiction. He is best known for his novel ''
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' (), published in America as ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'', is a 1992 novel by Denmark, Danish author Peter Høeg tracing the investigation into the suspicious death of a Greenlandic boy in Denmark. A global bestsel ...
'' (1992).
Early life
Høeg was born in
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 ...
, Denmark. Before becoming a writer, he worked variously as a sailor, ballet dancer and actor (in addition to fencing and
mountaineering
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mounta ...
)—experiences that he uses in his novels. He studied literature at the University of Copenhagen under Peter Brask, a Danish literary scholar, composer and author. After a personal crisis, he spent a year working as a sailor on wealthy people's yachts, before returning to graduate with a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in Literature from the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University.
...
in 1984.
Career
Peter Høeg published his first novel, ''A History of Danish Dreams'', in 1988 to very positive reviews. He decided at that stage to protect his personal life. Over the next five years he wrote and published the short story collection '' Tales of Night'', and the novels: ''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' (1992), '' Borderliners'' (1993). It was ''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' that earned Høeg immediate and international literary celebrity. In 1993 he won the Danish booksellers award De Gyldne Laurbær (The Golden Laurel) and the Danish Critics Prize for Literature for his book ''De måske egnede'' (English title: ''Borderliners'').
Høeg virtually disappeared in 1996 after the lukewarm reception of '' The Woman and the Ape''.
Return and ''The Quiet Girl'' controversy
Høeg resurfaced in 2006 with ''The Quiet Girl'', his first novel in 10 years. At the time of its publication, its reception in Denmark was mixed at best, and the novel was generally disregarded as being either too complex or too postmodern.
Høeg was surprised by the response and has since said the complexity of the book was nowhere near that of films like ''Inception'' or ''Memento''. Norwegian author
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
atomic weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear explo ...
in rogue hands.
Style
Høeg has a reputation for being hard to place in terms of literary style. All his works are stylistically very different from one another, and have been labelled postmodern, gothic, magical-realist, to mention a few. While ''Miss Smilla'', for instance, was classified as Nordic noir, ''The Susan Effect'' featured magical elements such as in the case of the Svendsen family, which possessed one superpower or another in the narrative. There is a thread to be found, however, in terms of theme; Høeg's work often seems to deal with the consequences of the progress of civilisation.
In an interview, Høeg said that he follows a contemplative approach to his writing practices and this involved a pattern "of meditating, then writing, then meditating and then writing again."
Personal life
Høeg grew up in Copenhagen and lives now in Nørre Snede in
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
. He has four children. In 1996 he established the Lolwe foundation which provides financial assistance to women and children in the third world, especially in Africa and Tibetan exile areas.
Books
Høeg's books are published in Denmark by Munksgaard/Rosinante, now a part of
Blackwell Publishing
Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publis ...
, and have also been published in more than 30 other countries.
*'' The History of Danish Dreams'' (Forestilling om det Tyvende århundrede), 1988
*'' Tales of the Night'' (Fortællinger om natten), 1990
*''
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
''Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow'' (), published in America as ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'', is a 1992 novel by Denmark, Danish author Peter Høeg tracing the investigation into the suspicious death of a Greenlandic boy in Denmark. A global bestsel ...
'' (US: ''Smilla's Sense of Snow'') (Frk. Smillas fornemmelse for sne), 1992, later filmed by
Bille August
Bille August (; born 9 November 1948) is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television.
August's 1987 film ''Pelle the Conqueror'' won the , Academy Awards, Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Awar ...
*'' Borderliners'' (De måske egnede), 1993
*'' The Woman and The Ape'' (Kvinden og aben), 1996
*''The Quiet Girl'' (Den stille pige), 2006
* '' The Elephant Keepers' Children'' (Elefantpassernes børn), 2010
* ''The Susan Effect'' (Effekten af Susan), Rosinante, 2014