Louis Jensen: Author–Denmark

Louis Jensen was born in Nibe by Limfjorden in the northern part of Jutland in 1943. When he was twelve years old, the family moved south and away from the sea. However, the great shiny fjord and the screams of the thousands of birds are always in his books. His first book was a collection of poems, published in 1973. He keeps writing for adults, but not that often. His debut for children was in 1983 with a short story called "The Insect man" for the anthology Fantastic tales, published in German as "Der Insektenmann" in an anthology with the same title (Berlin, 1990). His debut in writing novels for children was Krystalmanden (The Crystal Man) in 1986. Later, Louis Jensen became an architect specialized in city planning. Until a few years ago, he held a position in the municipality of Aarhus, where he still lives. He is married to Elizabeth, with three children and several grandchildren. He has his own boat and sails in all weather, dances tango, and travels. Louis Jensen is also a man of practical action. His vegetable garden is widely known. He is a skilled chess player, too. Today, he lives entirely off his writing. Hardly any anthology for educational use is published without a story of his.

Louis Jensen has been influenced by thinkers such as Jung and Steiner. A favorite book is Alice in Wonderland, and he reads Hans Christian Andersen all year round. Louis Jensen has received all awards available in Denmark, and he receives a life-long contribution from the State in recognition of his work. He has been nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award several times and was shortlisted in 2010 and 2016 for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and now also for the new Nordic Award for Children's Literature. You could listen to Louis Jensen reading poetry at the latest music festival in Roskilde, and in Germany and Austria, you may listen to him reading from "33 Cent–um ein Leben zu retten," the German translation of "2 kroner og 25 øre." He has been included in the Danish Encyclopedia and the new history of Danish literature.

Louis Jensen is a rare mixture of a nerd and a free spirit. In one of his books, Tusindfuglen (The Thousand Bird), it was his ambition to mention all Danish birds. To his great annoyance, he forgot one, so it had to be included in the next book! A greater piece of ornithological poetry does not exist. That is how you attack evil. With his collections of Square Stories—a collection of books with a hundred square stories each, now completed with the eleventh volume reaching a total of 1001 stories—Louis Jensen has found a whole new form of story-telling. In the very town of fairy tales, Louis Jensen has built a house the likes of which have never stood before. It has great eyes and birds on the roof.