Jonas Eika

Jonas Eika was born in Aarhus, Denmark in 1991. He studied at Forfatterskolen, the Danish Academy for Creative Writing, in Copenhagen.

His novel »Lageret Huset Marie« (2015; tr: Marie, House, Warehouse) was adapted for the theater and received the Bodil og Jørgen Munch-Christensen’s Debutantpris, one of the most renowned Danish awards for literary debuts. His second book »Efter solen« (2018; Eng. »After the Sun«) brings together five longer stories in which realism blends with science fiction, horror, and mysticism: in the middle of Copenhagen, the office building of an IT consultant sinks into crater. A couple waits for the arrival of extraterrestrials in the Nevada desert. In the rubble of London, a homeless person looks for a home in bed with a pregnant couple. The lives of the people detailed by Eika are all shaped by capitalist power relations – but their desires transcend the existing system. Eika stated that »The title ›After the Sun‹ refers to the horizon that runs through the entire book, to the possibility of moving towards a new order in which people and things are torn away from the mechanisms of exploitation with which they are forced to live«. In 2019, he became the youngest author to receive the prestigious Nordic Council Literature Award. The committee praised »his global perspective, his sensual and powerful language, and his ability to address current political challenges without nudging the reader in a certain direction.« In his acceptance speech Eika denounced racist and neoliberal policies in Denmark.

Jonas Eika lives in Copenhagen.

Lageret Huset Marie

Lindhardt og Ringhof

Kopenhagen, 2015

Nach der Sonne

Hanser

München, 2020

[Ü: Ursel Allenstein]