Johanne Mygind: Giftig

Author Johanne Mygind discusses her 2025 novel "Giftig", drawing on her own family history. In this lecture, she explores what it means to excavate the past that was meant to be forgotten - and what lies on the other side.

The novel centres on Nanna, who attempts to map her grandfather's role in the environmental catastrophe at Cheminova near Harboøre Tange near Thyborøn in the 1950s and 60s. Through her search, a picture emerges of a marriage, chemically-induced illnesses, a West Jutland culture marked by silence and restraint - and the poison that can grow in close human relationships. Kristeligt Dagblad's reviewer called the book "a well-crafted family saga about toxic environments and toxic morality, written with documentary precision and personal voice".

"Giftig" is the follow-up to Mygind's debut "Kærlighedens år", which dealt with mothers and daughters, women's lives and the struggle for women's liberation.

Johanne Mygind was born in 1976, grew up in a collective and describes herself as a committed feminist. She has a background in political science and anthropology and has worked as a journalist at DR, Information and Weekendavisen.