I’m very excited to announce that Johanne has joined us as a reviewer. Johanne has just started her Masters Degree at the University of East Anglia where she’s focusing on biography and creative non-fiction. She brings a younger voice to Bookstoker and through her passion for translated literature she’ll surely introduce us to books we otherwise wouldn’t have found. Johanne has quietly written some reviews for us already. Have a look. A Stranger at My Table, So Much Longing in So Little Space: The Art of Edward Munch, The Birds, Unquiet and Will and Testament. Welcome Johanne!

More about Johanne.

After a year at the University of Oslo, I went on to do a BA in English literature with Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where I’m also currently doing an MA in Biography and Creative Non-Fiction. I have therefore had the rare opportunity to study English literature in Norway, and Norwegian literature in England. This has given me an appreciation for the overlaps and intersections of the two literary cultures. In the last decade, there has been a lot of interesting examples of genre-bending personal narratives in my native Norway, and now many of these works are being translated into English. It looks like Scandinavian literature (beyond Nordic Noir) is finally getting the international recognition it deserves. As a writer for Bookstoker, I wish to highlight recent translations of Norwegian books, whether contemporary writing or beloved classics, always hoping this might encourage readers to delve further into a literary culture I know and love.

Johanne Elster Hanson

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