When Dagmar Winther, one half of Danish crime-thriller-writing team Sander Jakobsen, appears at Birmingham Library next week in an evening devoted to the popular genre of Scandi noir, it will be in some ways a homecoming.
Twelve years ago, Dagmar spent six months as an intern at the Birmingham Post as part of her training as a journalist.
鈥淵ou guys taught me everything I know about writing,鈥 she says, only half joking.
鈥淢y time in Birmingham influenced me in a very big way.鈥
While with the news team, she shadowed reporters, which included visiting grieving families to talk about their stories.
鈥淭here were extremely disturbing cases 鈥 one involved people being burnt to death in their house; it was very grim,鈥 she explains. 鈥淚t was my first instance of meeting people and telling their story. You get to look into people鈥檚 lives when they鈥檙e not at their proudest or prettiest: it was a wake-up call.鈥
Following her time in Birmingham, Dagmar undertook a further internship with the European Commission in Brussels, before returning to her home in Aarhus. There, in Denmark鈥檚 second city, she became a journalism lecturer in a Danish school.
It was while on a school trip to Romania led by her and philosophy and music lecturer Kenneth Degnbol 鈥 now her partner 鈥 that saw her latent desire to be a novelist surface.
鈥淲e were on a long, boring bus-ride, I was sitting next to Kenneth, and I mentioned I wanted to be a writer,鈥 she recalls.
鈥淲e started discussing how you would go about writing crime fiction 鈥 and about the Scandinavian tradition that two people write something together 鈥 it鈥檚 much more common over here.
鈥淥n our return, one of the major Danish newspapers 鈥 Politiken 鈥 decided to hold a crime-fiction writing competition. We thought: 鈥淲e are going to do that thing鈥.鈥
That was 2010. Six months of frenetic writing produced The Preacher, the chilling story of a pair of murders in a small Danish town. A deeply psychological thriller that explores love and relationships, guilt, shame and forgiveness, it is redolent with atmosphere and authenticity.
Dagmar and her colleague came second in the competition 鈥 and so missed out on the book deal. However, with an inkling that the novel might find an enthusiastic readership in Britain, she translated the manuscript into English and the pair were signed by a London agent in 2011. Respected publishing house Little Brown agreed to take the book in January 2013; it was released as an e-book in July 2013 and came out as a paperback earlier this year.
The book has now been published in Denmark and Japan.
Sander Jacobsen鈥檚 follow-up novel, early drafts of which are now complete, is prompted by the 2011 massacre of 69 young people on a Norwegian Labour Party camp by a lone gunmen.
鈥淭his sort of violence is incomprehensible to us, but there is that fear that it could happen here. We鈥檝e seen it happen in the US, in the 海角视频, in Germany, Finland, and then Norway. It really shook these countries to the core 鈥 violence is not part of everyday life.
鈥淲hen I鈥檝e shared my idea for the second novel, people have said 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 do that; it鈥檚 irresponsible鈥. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an almost medieval idea 鈥 if we don鈥檛 mention the devil鈥檚 name, he won鈥檛 appear,鈥 says Dagmar.
鈥淥bviously, part of it is entertainment 鈥 and we鈥檙e not against entertainment, but I think, as long as there鈥檚 a point, as long as you are writing with respect, it is possible.鈥
Many have theorised about the psychology behind the emergence of Scandi noir in recent years 鈥 from countries that have until recently given us nothing more chilling than affordable flat-pack furniture. Possibly the long dark winter nights? The empty landscapes and big, weather-laden skies? The inner melancholy of the Norwegian, Swedish and Danish soul?
Dagmar thinks not.
鈥淒enmark, Scandinavia 鈥 we are very peaceful countries 鈥 there鈥檚 never been a revolution 鈥 when the Germans came along in the war we just put our hands in the air and gave up. There are virtually no firearms; we pay tonnes of taxes and so there鈥檚 a relatively high level of security and comfort.
鈥淏ut as a result we like to flirt with these things that are really disturbing, evil and cruel. We like to dip our toes in really dark waters.鈥
Sander Jacobsen, together with Elsebeth Egholm and Lene Kaaberbols, will discuss the genre and their work at the Studio Theatre, Library of Birmingham on October 7, 6pm 鈥 7.30pm. For more details/booking: wwwbirminghamliteraturefestival.co.uk
