Mette Vedsø

Mette Vedsø was born in Vejle, Denmark in 1968. She studied chemistry and biotechnology at Aarhus University and attended the Academy for Creative Writing for Children in Copenhagen from 2008 to 2010. She has been writing books for children and young adults since 2011 and has published over 50 titles to date. »Happy Happy« (2022) is her first book to be translated into German (»What the luck!«, 2024). 13-year-old Mikkel and his father make ends meet but have never had much money. This bothers Mikkel sometimes more, sometimes less, but secretly he dreams of a different life. When, by a strange coincidence, he comes into possession of expensive golf equipment, he begins a strange double life: He pretends to be a wealthy boy from the mansion district. Mette Vedsø writes with warmth and humor about class differences and the courage to stand up for oneself and one’s own opinion. »Buchkultur« wrote that »›What the luck!‹ is warm-hearted, wise, has an irresistible sense of humor and adorable protagonists – a book packed with luck«. The novel received the Orla Award, a prestigious Danish literary prize for children’s and young adult books, and was included in the annually published »The White Ravens« catalog, for which outstanding new publications in the field of children’s and young adult literature from more than 50 countries are selected. The selection statement praised the author saying that »Mette Vedsø plays with stereotypes and clichés, but she does this to subsequently subvert them«.
Mette Vedsø has received numerous scholarships for her literary work, including the three-year Danish Work Scholarship for Literature from the Danish Arts Foundation. She lives in Copenhagen.

What the luck!
Thienemann
Stuttgart, 2024
[Tr: Maike Dörries]