Ane Riel
Ane Riel (25 September 1971) is a Danish author. Her latest novel Harpiks (Resin) won the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Suspense Novel of 2016.
Ane Riel | |
---|---|
Born | Ane Brahm Lauritsen 25 September 1971 Aarhus, Denmark |
Occupation | Author |
Nationality | Danish |
Period | 2013–present |
Genre | fiction |
Spouse | Alex Riel(2002–present) |
Early life
Riel was born in 26 September 1971 in Aarhus. Her father is a lawyer and her mother, Mette Brahm Lauritsen, is a children's book author and illustrator. She graduated from Marselisborg Gymnasium in 1990 and began to study art history at Aarhus University the following year. Alongside her studies in Aarhus, she developed a keen interest in jazz and would often be found at the local jazz club, Jazzbar Bent J.[1] In 1996 she moved to Copenhagen with an ambition to study illustration at the Danish Design School.[2] Instead she ended up working at the Storm P. Museum dedicated to the life and work of Robert Storm Petersen (1882-1949), a Danish artist known for his comic strips and satirical work. Storm P. also provided the subject for Riel's third children's book.[1] When Riel wasn't writing children's books, she was pursuing her love of music: going to as many concerts as possible, immersing herself in the Copenhagen jazz scene, joining the board of The Ben Webster Foundation[3] and traveling with her husband Alex Riel, one of the most significant and influential jazz drummers in Europe.
Career
School books and children's books
Riel's first book was a school book about art published in 1995 in collaboration with a fellow student from the university. It was followed by other school books about art in architecture as well as a number of children's books with illustrations by her mother.[2]
Novels
Riel made her debut as a novelist with the comedic thriller Slagteren i Liseleje (The Butcher of Liseleje) in 2013, which was awarded the Danish Crime Academy's Prize for the Best Crime/Suspense Debut in 2014. It was followed by Harpiks (Resin) in 2015, which was not only nominated for the "2016 DR Romanpris," the literary prize awarded by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, but also the Readers' Choice Award.
That same year, Ane Riel was awarded the prestigious Niels Matthiasen Memorial Grant by the Ministry of Culture for her authorship thus far. The Niels Matthiasen committee called Ane Riel "an author of unique talent, extraordinary courage and a rare imagination. Along with her command of the subtleties of language, she has positioned herself at the forefront of her genre in record time. She is clearly not a 'one hit wonder'. With an imagination bordering on the grotesque and her exceptional writing style, she has forged a universe entirely of her own making.”
Riel's novel Harpiks (Resin) has been awarded Scandinavia's three most important crime novel awards – The Harald Mogensen in Denmark, The Golden Crowbar for Best Crime Novel in Translation presented by the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy, and Norway's Golden Bullet for Best Crime Novel translated into Norwegian.[4]
Riel has also been awarded the Glass Key Award for Best Nordic Thriller for her novel Harpiks (Resin). On their motivation for choosing Harpiks, the jury said: “Resin is written with a mischievous and whimsical élan, as well as solidarity with its characters, especially the oddballs and the anti-socials. There is actually a lot of amusement in this tragic story. Resin is written in the fertile borderland between strict genre and originality, the beloved cliché and the new code. Or what Umberto Eco calls the good balance in all good literature; the known is what is already seen and the shocking is what is unknown. It is in this borderland that the best thrillers are and where prizes are won. Congratulations, Ane!”[5]
Personal life
Ane Riel is married to the jazz drummer Alex Riel. The couple, along with their dog Gandhi, moved to Liseleje in North Zealand in 2006;[2] A busy and idyllic holiday spot in the summer, but a deserted town in the winter months. It was life in Liseleje that inspired Riel's first novel for adults, Slagteren i Liseleje (The Butcher of Liseleje), which was awarded the Debut Prize by the Danish Crime Academy.[6]
References
- "OM ANE RIEL – Forfatteren bag Bæst, Harpiks og Slagteren i Liseleje". Forfatter Ane Riel (in Danish). Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- "Hele portrættet om Ane Riel" (in Danish). Forfatterweb. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- Rogne, Vebjørn (8 March 2018). "Gullkulen til Ane Riel". BOK365.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- "Ane Riel vinder Glasnøglen 2016". Krimimessen Horsens (in Danish). 8 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- "Ane Riel". Forfatterweb. Retrieved 11 August 2020.