Dennis Jürgensen
Encyclopedia
Dennis Jürgensen is one of the most popular Danish
writer for kids and young adults. A study among Danish kids from 11 to 18 years showed that 90 % knew who he was and his fan club has almost 1000 members. In Denmark, a country of only about five and a half million inhabitants, that is a very significant size for a fanclub.
Jürgensen is mostly a writer for the youth but as he has said himself some of his books should be considered to be for adults. He has written in almost any genre but his most preferred genres are fantasy
, science fiction
and horror
or a combination of those three. But he has also written crime-books, books about love and realistic novels.
Humor is an on-going feature, a thing he focuses a lot on. One of his idols, Stephen King
, once said his biggest wish was that someone would die of terror after reading his book. To that Jürgensen has remarked that his biggest wish is that someone will laugh so hard from reading his book that people in the bus
will turn around and look at him.
He grew up in Brønshøj
near Copenhagen
(today he's living in Rødovre
), he was doing okay in school with the exception being Danish
. He drifted around after taking his exam in 1978 and tried unsuccessfully to send manuscripts to various publishers. But during the summer of 1981 Kristian Tellerup from the publishing company Tellerup answered to one of his scripts, Love at First Hiccup, a youth-novel about love and of course a lot humor. It was published the same autumn and was an enormous success and has since been reprinted 20 times. It was later put to the screen in 1999 and became a big success in Denmark
. Since then he has written more than 50 novels and made three feature films, for example an adaptation of his Kærlighed ved første hik, starring Robert Hansen and Sofie Lassen-Kahlke.
Generally Dennis Jürgensen is quite shy of the media and doesn't generally appear in the TV, radio
etc.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
writer for kids and young adults. A study among Danish kids from 11 to 18 years showed that 90 % knew who he was and his fan club has almost 1000 members. In Denmark, a country of only about five and a half million inhabitants, that is a very significant size for a fanclub.
Jürgensen is mostly a writer for the youth but as he has said himself some of his books should be considered to be for adults. He has written in almost any genre but his most preferred genres are fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
or a combination of those three. But he has also written crime-books, books about love and realistic novels.
Humor is an on-going feature, a thing he focuses a lot on. One of his idols, Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, once said his biggest wish was that someone would die of terror after reading his book. To that Jürgensen has remarked that his biggest wish is that someone will laugh so hard from reading his book that people in the bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
will turn around and look at him.
He grew up in Brønshøj
Brønshøj
Brønshøj, part of the municipality of Copenhagen, forms, together with Husum, the administrative city district of Brønshøj-Husum. Brønshøj lies on rising ground 4 km west of Copenhagen center and is bordered by the large wetland area of Utterslev Mose to the north. A number of ponds, lakes,...
near Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
(today he's living in Rødovre
Rødovre
Rødovre Kommune is a municipality in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. Its mayor is Erik Nielsen, a member of the Social Democrats political party who hold a majority of seats in the council.-History:The municipality was created in 1901 when the parish of Rødovre was...
), he was doing okay in school with the exception being Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
. He drifted around after taking his exam in 1978 and tried unsuccessfully to send manuscripts to various publishers. But during the summer of 1981 Kristian Tellerup from the publishing company Tellerup answered to one of his scripts, Love at First Hiccup, a youth-novel about love and of course a lot humor. It was published the same autumn and was an enormous success and has since been reprinted 20 times. It was later put to the screen in 1999 and became a big success in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Since then he has written more than 50 novels and made three feature films, for example an adaptation of his Kærlighed ved første hik, starring Robert Hansen and Sofie Lassen-Kahlke.
Generally Dennis Jürgensen is quite shy of the media and doesn't generally appear in the TV, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
etc.
Books about Dennis Jürgensen
- Drager, damer & dæmoner - en guide til Dennis Jürgensens univers, M. F. Clasen, Tellerup, 2002
See also
- Anders WestenholzAnders WestenholzAnders Westenholz in Copenhagen was a Danish psychologist and writer.-Overview:Anders Westenholz became a student in 1955, and a psychologist in 1969. From 1969-76 he was employed by Dansk Arbejdsgiverforening...
, another Danish writer of fantasyFantasyFantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and other fantasticFantasticThe Fantastic is a literary term that describes a quality of other literary genres, and, in some cases, is used as a genre in and of itself, although in this case it is often conflated with the Supernatural. The term was originated in the structuralist theory of critic Tzvetan Todorov in his work...
literature.