Connie Bork

1958 -

Denmark

Connie Bork was born in Tønder, studied Danish and film, and worked for many years as a literary critic for the daily newspaper Politiken.

Her debut collection of poems Det bløde pigekød was published in 1983 and was followed by the collections Der ligger et landskab i bunden af Danmark, 1984, and Sur sød, 1987. The family, the soil, and the body provide the underlying structure of her plain, clear poems that look simple, but in which every detail is open to multiple perceptions, memories, and poetic experiences. With a focus on body and gender, a picture of rural Denmark emerges, consisting of grandparents, beets, potatoes, roast pork, and thick slices of rye bread, sketched in clear verse tinged with humour, tenderness, and a fundamental preoccupation with the world around us, the present, and the past. Distinctive character, clarity, timbre, and an eye for the details of rural life are the elements which her poems have in common with the popular breakthrough at the beginning of the twentieth century.

“All good literature is ruthless and clear”, writes Connie Bork in her debate book Den ny kvindelighed, 1996, which interweaves literary analysis with a description of conflicts of female identity and interpretations of female existence, and in which literature is also subject to critical and lively scrutiny for any evidence of self-importance.

Additions by the editorial team 2011:

The above biography was first published in 1998. Since then, Connie Bork has written a number of works, including Lille Amerika – danskeren i det amerikanske spejl, 2008. She is the recipient of travel scholarships and work grants from The Danish Arts Foundation and The Danish Literature Council.