Ursula Andkjær Olsen

Ursula Andkjær Olsen (born 1970) is a Danish poet. She has published a dozen poetry collections, three of which have been translated into English and published as Third-Millennium Heart, Outgoing Vessel (2021), and My Jewel Box (2022).

Olsen is one of Denmark's most prominent and critically acclaimed contemporary poets. In 2017, the Danish Arts Foundation's judging panel said, in giving Olsen its Award of Distinction, "Few poets, if any, have renewed Danish poetry in the 21st century the way Ursula Andkjær Olsen has done it."

Early life and education Olsen was born in 1970 in Copenhagen, and she grew up in the capital.

She holds a master's degree in musicology and philosophy from the University of Copenhagen and Technische Universität Berlin. Early in her career, she worked for several years as a music critic for Berlingske and other newspapers. She also studied at the , an institution of higher education in Copenhagen that focuses on literary writing, graduating in 1999.

Writing

Poetry Olsen made her literary debut in 2000 with the polyphonic poetry book Lulus sange og taler. She went on to publish nearly a dozen more poetry collections.

Though she was not selected, the following year Olsen received the Otto Gelsted Prize, and the year after she won the Holberg Medal for her overall body of work up to that point. She later received the Montanaprisen Award in 2013 for Det 3. årtusindes hjerte, described as a "polyphonic 214-page poem."

Her works Det 3. årtusindes hjerte, Udgående Fartøj, and Mit smykkeskrin have been translated into English under the titles Third-Millennium Heart, Outgoing Vessel, and My Jewel Box, respectively, by Katrine Øgaard Jensen. Third-Millennium Heart won the 2018 National Translation Award for Poetry. A collaborative work of translation and mistranslation by Jensen, featuring Olsen's work alongside that of other poets, is due out in 2025 under the title Ancient Algorithms.

As a poet, Olsen is considered part of the ecopoetry and ecofeminist movements.

In 2013, she became the editor of the journal Critique.

Other projects Olsen has also written one novel, Krisehæfterne: Pandora Blue Box, Atlantissyndromet, which was published in 2017.

Her work also includes several theatrical pieces, as well as libretti for operas. Among her libretti are those for Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen's Sol går op, sol går ned and Peter Bruun's Miki Alone, the latter of which received the 2008 Nordic Council Music Prize.

Selected works

Poetry

Lulus sange og taler, 2000 Atlas over huller i verden, 2003 (poetry and prose) Ægteskabet mellem vejen og udvejen, 2005 Skønheden hænger på træerne, 2006 Havet er en scene, 2008 Have og helvede, 2010 SAMLET, 2011 (poems written from 2000–2010) Det 3. årtusindes hjerte, 2012 Den bedste af alle verdener, 2014 Udgående fartøj, 2015 Vi rus salve, 2016 Mit smykkeskrin, 2020 Morgenkåber, 2021

Novel

Krisehæfterne: Pandora Blue Box, Atlantissyndromet, 2017

English translations

Third-Millennium Heart (2017) Outgoing Vessel (2021) My Jewel Box (2022)