Niels Krause-Kjær: Ude for uden

Author Niels Krause-Kjær presents his award-winning novel "Ude for uden" in the Main Hall at Hovedbiblioteket in Aarhus.

The book is fiction rooted in reality: it begins with a visitor's book kept by Krause-Kjær's father and his folk-school friends over half a century, which the author discovered in the Danish National Archives. The cover photograph shows his childhood home - taken shortly before it was demolished. The story follows the farmer Erik, who throws himself into work after World War II to build a future with his wife Lisbet. Hard labour, drought, and loss mark their lives as the farming culture they know gradually dissolves. A generation later, their son Svend lives a completely different life as a member of parliament in Copenhagen, but when he discovers the visitor's book, he is forced to confront a past with consequences for his political career.

The novel depicts how farming culture disappeared over two generations, while the city thrived and the provinces declined. Krause-Kjær received De Gyldne Laurbær 2025 - the booksellers' literary prize - for the novel.

Krause-Kjær (b. 1963) has a background as a journalist at Jyllands-Posten, head of journalism education at Syddansk Universitet, and host of DR2 Deadline. He later served as press secretary for the Conservative Party's parliamentary group before breaking through as a novelist with "Kongekabale", which was adapted into a film in 2004. Since then he has published "Fandens forår" (2021), "Nedsmeltning" (2023), and "Jagttegn" (2024), and the film adaptation of "Mørkeland" had its cinema premiere in 2024.