Books published by Nordisk Books

Hugely influential amongst the Danish "80's poets," Michael Strunge created an incredible body of work before his tragically early death. Speed of Life was originally published in 1978, his first collection of poetry.

I stroked her cheek and whispered that what we had was amazing, but that it was impossible to describe with words. She turned to me and replied: and yet, now that you've said it, it's gone. During the course of the night I tried to take it back, but it was too late. In the morning we shared out our things between us.

Tom Kristensen's modern classic "Hærværk" in a translation by Carl Malberg. Copenhagen, 1930. There is a ring at the door of Ole Jastrau's fifth floor apartment that will ignite a spark of restlessness within his soul, leading him into darkened velvet portiere-entranced bars and brightly glittering night clubs, from the mundane grind of literary criticism to the nocturnal otherworld of alcoholism and prostitution. Will Jastrau re-emerge into polite society, or sink to a place from where he will never resurface? Originally deemed a cynical, pessimistic - and, above all, overly revealing - portrayal of life as a newspaperman upon its release in interwar Denmark, Havoc has since gone on to become a much loved modern classic in its home country, with its ‘longed for shipwrecks' verse becoming one of the most oft quoted in the Danish language.

Stockholm. Early summer, 1989. Johan is a young waiter working at the Hard Rock Cafe. His nights are filled with parties, drugs, booze and MTV. When first published in Sweden, Cigarette heralded a bold new voice in contemporary literature. A troubadour of 1990s' nightlife, Per Hagman's electric debut is now available in English for the first time.

Fixed Ideas is a restless and effective story of desire, gender and longing, and about the fundamental loneliness and constant, gnawing self-awareness which threatens our ability to meet one another as we really are.

We'll Call You is a collection of nine stories of the aspirations, self-deception, apathy and despair of the modern job interview.

A young man writes a letter to the woman who rejected him. Driven by doubt and unbridled desire, he tries to write himself to a new understanding of his loneliness. At the same time, he suspects literature is to blame for all of this.He therefore dreams of literature that cures the need for literature, literature where life has precedence.

"I etch lines in the wall, to the left of my mattress, in order to keep track of how long I have been here. I have two rooms, and a wall covered in pictures of those I love. I have a wall covered in pictures of those I left." Transfer Window is a utopian vision in which the wealthy suburbs north of Copenhagen have been turned into a giant luxurious hospice for the terminally ill. Everyone wears white. New-age nuns grow organic cannabis on the beach. The internet and music are forbidden, but you can swim in the icy sea in the winter. In amongst it all come the crushing memories of life as a terminal cancer patient; otherwise our narrator and her friend Mikkel hang out, talking about the 80s and about how they would prefer to die, and to laugh at the mistakes of the healthy.

Gine Cornelia Pedersen debuted with this explosive work which was compared, in its home country of Norway, with a 'punk rock single'. The unique lyrical style and frank description of life with mental health problems have come together to create one of the most exciting novels from Scandinavia in recent years.