The Life and Work of Josefine Ottesen

Josefine Ottesen’s life has crossed several continents and carried over into stories of fantasy and drama. Born in Copenhagen in 1956, she grew up in various places in Denmark because of her parents’ work (and divorce). She finished secondary school in 1975, after which she entered Herning College’s Drama Course, then completed her education as an actor at the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre in California, USA. She took an extended training as a director at the British Theatre Association in London in 1986-87. In 1997, she was awarded a humanities degree in Dramaturgy from Århus University in Denmark. She has also taken a large number of shorter courses in various theatre disciplines. Since 1977, her address has been in Svendborg on the island of Fyn (Funen), where she lives with her musician husband, a son and a daughter. Her son, especially, has been the source of much inspiration in her writing.

Josefine Ottesen’s writing began early, keeping a diary when she was 12–13 years old. She noticed that the process of writing also enabled her to work out some important things in her mind. Early in her twenties, the diary writing began to develop into stories, mostly into fairy tales. One day she showed some of her stories to an acquaintance, who advised her to send them to a publisher. This she did and the publisher accepted them immediately. In 1983, she thus made her debut with Princess Morningbloom and the Lindorm, which contains two tales illustrated by Flemming Quist Møller. After this, The Feather and the Rose came out in 1986, receiving the Danish Ministry of Culture’s Children’s Book Prize the following year.

Three trilogies

Josefine Ottesen has written over 60 books, so there isn’t space here for a complete review of her writing, but there are three trilogies that stand out as beacons.

“The Warrior” trilogy is a very violent and exciting story. In On the Furthest Island (2001) the boy Odd kills the sorceress to avoid being sacrificed and has to flee as an outlaw. Many trials await him before his dream of being a warrior becomes a reality. In Behind the Castle Walls (2002) Odd is accepted into the King’s Guard. His daring and fighting spirit bring him promotion and success but also problems, and in Across Open Water (2003) Odd is required to choose between his duty to his king and his own opportunities for career and love. The trilogy is written – says Josefine Ottesen – for those who don’t always enjoy reading books, namely boys around 12–13 years old.

The second trilogy – “The Mira Chronicles” – is actually a holocaust story, inspired by Josefine’s mother who was of Hungarian Jewish descent. “The Mira Chronicles” tell the tale of the young girl Mira who, as the daughter of the Royal Librarian, belongs to the ruling class in the country of Dakja. But when the king dies and power changes hands, hatred is kindled towards the Truva clan, the one to which Mira belongs. The first book in the trilogy is called The Whisper of Demons (2005). In The Queen’s Tear (2006), Mira is taught to become a Demon Conqueror and she soon finds herself up against enormous powers and has to accept responsibilities that she is perhaps not ready for. The action in The Crystal Heart (2006) puts additional pressure on Mira: she is the only one who can battle against the demons that have possessed the inhabitants of Dakja.

In the third trilogy, “The Dead Lands,” only the first book Golak (2008) has been published at the time of this writing. It is an excellently written, dystopian, futuristic novel. The action takes place many years after a devastating war. It is a dark, fateful tale about a 16 year-old young man, Jonah, who lives with his family in a technically and culturally backward mountain...