This year’s litterary gift
Every year all of BG’s 3rd year STX students and 3u Danish A students receive a very special gift. The gift is of the literary kind – in the form of a visit from a noteworthy Danish author. This year the author in question was Liv Duvå.
Liv Niemand Duvå made her debut in 2017 with the highly praised novel "Vi er vel helte" (For we are heroes, red.), for which she recieved numerous accolades. Her work has been nominated for various prestigious awards and her newest novel Ned Fra Himlen (Down from Heaven, red.) about growing up west for Copenhagen has been met with rave reviews.
The students have been studying Duvå prior to her visit, reading and analyzing texts such as the poem Jeg vil have en Statsminister (I want a Prime Minister, red.) and Ned Fra Himlen meaning that BG’s students were more than ready to welcome Liv Duvå and engage in a meaningful conversation with her about her work and journey to becoming and author.
During her talk, Duvå spoke about her personal journey, background and childhood and the clash between achieving success despite maybe not always feeling like you belong in the “right” literary circles. Duvå delivered her talk with honesty and authenticity, which caught the attention of many of those present. Smilla and Silke from 3a were among those in attendance and describe the effect of Duvå’s straight forward and honest approach as such:
“It was exciting that she chose to talk about her family history and really cool to be able to understand where she came from. She interacted well with the audience, and she seemed real. She admitted to having her own prejudices and that she was nervous”. – Smilla 3a.
”I thought her talk was interesting because I think she helped cast light on some relevant structures in society. I liked the fact that she elaborated on where the idea for the novel came from and also her intention with it, and the fact that she is describing a real environment that she herself came from.” – Silke 3a
Both students agree on the importance of the fact that Duvå told a different story than the one you would normally hear: “It really was a fresh breath of air, hearing a different story than the one we might be used to. You could feel that in the room and see it in the many different questions that people asked. She really caught the attention of the audience!” – Silke 3a
The litterary gift is an event arranged by the Danish teachers at BG. The idea and purpose of the event is to facilitate a direct meeting between BG’s students and literature. The literary gift gives students a unique opportunity to fully submerge themselves in the work of a Danish author and then meet the person behind the words.
A huge thanks to Liv Duvå for visiting BG and providing us with insight into the many crooked paths an individual can take to find his or her passion in life. Thank you to BG’s students for the sharp and engaging questions and finally thank you to the Danish teachers at BG for yet another exciting and thought-provoking literary gift.