Interview with the Danish writer, journalist and book editor- Viveca Tallgren

Viveca Tallgren is a Danish writer/journalist and she has an MA in Spanish philology from the University of Copenhagen. At present she works both as an editor for the small publishing house Apuleius’ Æsel and as a writer. She has translated literature both from Spanish and Swedish. She has worked as a teacher of Spanish. Her literary debut was a short story which was read on the radio in Denmark in 1985. In 1992 she published the story „The Guest” in the newspaper The European.
Source: https://apuleius.dk/bog.php?id=24

Can you share with us the story of how your career in writing and journalism began, and what initially drew you to these fields?
I grew up in Helsinki and I belong to the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.
When I was about 13 years old, I got inspired by one of my class mates, who wrote an article for the junior department of the Swedish speaking minority’s newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet. “I want to write articles, too”, I said to myself.
At the age of 15 I lived with my mother for one year in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the US. My mother was a dentist and got a research scholarship and I went to high school. I began to write articles about my impressions of life in the US to the junior department of Hufvudstadsbladet. That was my debut.
Many years after I had moved to Denmark, the director of the Finnish newspaper Kaleva in Oulu, Northern Finland, asked me to write some articles about Denmark. This newspaper was started as a joint-stock company by my grandfather among others. I took some courses in journalism, and began to write articles to Kaleva about Danish culture.
I got my Master of Arts in Spanish from the University of Copenhagen and began to teach the language at the Copenhagen Business School and at a higher secondary level.Beside my teaching I worked as a freelance writer and wrote articles about Denmark both to the newspaper Kaleva and the Spanish El País.
I think the abovementioned experiences were decisive for me.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your fiction writing and the themes you explore in your novels?
My first fictional writings were three short stories inspired by my childhood. They just came to me and they almost wrote themselves. One of them was read in Radio Denmark, another one, The Guest, was published in English by the European, a newspaper that unfortunately does not exist anymore. After this I did not write any fiction for a long time. I think the journalism took all my time.
My first book, Tango for én (Tango for one) was published quite late in my life, in 2017. It is a collection of travel stories inspired from by my journeys , but with an element of fiction. I got some very positive responses to this book and decided to translate it to English with the title Solitary Tango. Both the Danish and the English version was published by the small publishing house my husband and I started in 2015 after we retired from our works as teachers. We both like literature and writing and we really enjoy the work as editors.
My other three books have been published by other publishers.
My second book is an autobiographical novel with the title Mor ordner tænder, far er på rejse (Mom fixes teeth, Dad is on a journey). It’s about my childhood in Finland and my parents’ quite dramatical divorce. My dad emigrated to Mexico when I was five years old, and it was quite traumatic for me. When I was 17, I moved to Denmark, to Århus with my mother. The other half of the book tells about my first years in Denmark, where I didn’t want to live. I didn’t want to speak the language, because I thought it sounded ugly, and it was also a protest against having to live in Århus, which was quite a provincial city at that time. It was not until five years later, when we moved to Copenhagen, that I decided to speak Danish.
My third book Den usynlige hånd og andre essays (The Invidible Hand and other Essays) is a collection of essays about different cultural subjects.
In 2022 my collection of short stories Spejlinger (Reflections) was published by Brændpunkt. The stories involve some childhood themes and also relationships between women.
In 2009 I published a book in Spain about the Spanish dramatist Fernando Arrabal with the title El temor al dios Pan (The Fear of the God Pan). It was published in Danish by our publishing house Apuleius’ Æsel in 2023.
What is your writing process like when working on a new book? Do you have any specific routines or rituals that help you in the creative process?
I struggled a lot with my first book. The reason for this was that I was so influenced by journalism and found it hard to write fiction. I sent my manuscript to a professional manuscript reader who helped me to get rid of the journalistic writing style. I felt very happy and relieved when I finally found my own writing style: a mixture of fictional elements and non-fiction. I often do my writing at different cafés, where I can work in peace and quiet. At home I often get tempted to do other things, especially if I can’t find the inspiration to write; at the café I am forced to write because there is nothing else to do.
What role does language and multilingualism play in your writing, considering your proficiency in Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Spanish, English, and French?
I write in Danish, because this is the language I use most of the time. I also use Spanish quite a lot, because I translate Spanish literature for our publishing house. It is important for me to maintain the languages I know, even my mother tongue. Except for some Danish newspapers I also read newspapers in Swedish, Finnish and Spanish. I have always been a great lover…. I have always been a great lover of languages. I know quite a bit of French too, but I need to practice it more.
Are there any specific literary influences or authors that have inspired your writing style or storytelling techniques?
Concerning my literary influences, I have worked for many years with the authorship of the Spanish dramatist Fernando Arrabal, and I have translated some of his dramatical works. I have also been inspired by the Swedish author Anne-Marie Berglund (1952 – 2020) who was an iconic writer in Sweden and also a good friend of mine.The Danish author Suzanne Brøgger has also inspired me a lot.
How do you balance your work as an editor, translator, and writer of fiction? Do these different roles complement each other in any way?
How do I balance my work as a writer, editor and a translator. Well, it can be difficult at times. We have reduced our publishing of book lately, because the publishing of each book requires quite a lot of work, and we are getting older. But generally, I guess I am a “work-horse” and I always feel better when I have a lot of work than no work. When you have many tasks, I think it is important to do some planning for the day or the week.
How did you start teaching Spanish at Copenhagen Business School, University of Copenhagen, and various high schools since 1980?
Most people who have an academic degree in Spanish end up with a teacher job. I didn’t like teaching in the beginning, but when I got more self-confidence and experience, I began to like it, but writing means more to me. As I wrote above, I have stopped teaching and writing articles to newspapers. I think it is important for both your mental and physical health to be active and do the things you like to do. I think that’s the secret of a long and good life.
Interview conducted by Andreea Arsene