The Alchemist's Daughter in S.B.R.

This Wednesday, at midday, at the Slussen station of the Stockholm Metro, a young man with a small child asked if I was Edenborg? I nodded. With a sweet shyness, he told  me that The Alchemist's Daughter (Alkemistens dotter, 2014) is "one of the best books I've ever read'.

I smiled and said thanks and ran on board my southbound subway-train. I had a bad day before that. I was in all sorts of pain. But then and there, the happiness was overwhelming and my tears flowed.

The life-lenght of books are generally all too short. To my joy, this principle does not apply to The Alchemist's Daughter, my fifth and most recent novel.

Yesterday, when I finally arrived home in the vast forests of Västmanland after a lot of travelling, I found a copy of the latest issue of the Swedish Book Review.

The brilliant translator Fiona Graham has chosen five pages from my historical novel, which is very firmly based on historical facts (I wrote my doctoral thesis on 18th century alchemy). The protagonist is Rebia Drakenstierna, a strong example of 18th century girl power. She has inherited a tremendous Mission from her alchemist-gnostic father:

To Annihilate Cosmos.

Follow her journeys through Europe, her visits in alchemical laboratories, her meetings with eccentric relatives, in her quest for the Philosopher's Stone: absolute power in the form of a red powder that glows in the dark.

I still have no foreign representation, but a beautiful solution seems to be on its way. Please contact my publisher at Natur & kultur if you are interested in my work: Nina Eidem. She can be reached at  nina.eidem@nok.se. Also, feel free to write directly to me: cmedenborg@gmail.com

NEW AUDIO BOOKS

Later this year, the publishing house Saga-Egmont will produce audio books of the six titles I wrote 1999-2013 under the pseudonym "Gunnar Blå": three novels ("The Third Sister-Trilogy" consisting of "The Third Sister", "Descend the Stairs" and "Surveillance: The Memory of You") and three collections of erotic short stories: "Clumsiness", "The Bicycle-Repair Lady" and "You Eat My Face".

Originally, I wrote under the pseudonym to be free to let go of all inhibitions, my kids then attending school etc. Now, I don't feel that need anymore.

A posteriori, the texts written by "Gunnar Blå" and the ones written by "Edenborg" seem pretty much alike, even though the craftmanship might have improved during the years. The collection "Clumsiness and other stories" (1999) is my real debut book, it's raw, weird and pretty funny. I have found that many readers enjoy its artlessness and naivety more than the more elaborated work.

HENRIETTE PEDERSEN'S "JAG, HÄNDEL"

This Friday, I attented the premiere of "Jag, Händel: Mitt grymma öde" (I, Händel: My Cruel Fate) at Atalante in Gothenburg.

It took some time to process the overwhelming impressions of this one-hour performance, but late last night I realized this must be described as one of the largest experiences of my life.

The brave director/choreographer Henriette Pedersen has created an intense interpretation of the text. "Jag, Händel" is an astonishing, total work created from sound, light, scenography, costume and not the least strong smells (rotten shrimps, fox-piss!).

In the centre stands the actor Cajsa-Stina Forssberg. Alone on the big stage, she dominates the room with her expressive face, motions, and voice: embodying the unredeemed ambivalences that I wanted to show in the narcissistic, hurting, megalomaniac and scared main character of my novel.

It was a sold-out house, and the big audience seemed enchanted by Cajsa-Stinas magic: laughing at the grotesque, crying over the sadness, shivering from the violence of Händel's mind, exploding through her artistic volcanoe.

Mikael Löfgren wrote a very positive review of the performance in Dagens Nyheter:

"I, Händel is based on a series of stories. They are well written and catch the audience's attention from the start. --- As much as with words, the performance narrates through light and sound. It's a complete multimedia work. In the same way, Caisa-Stina Forssberg uses all of herself in her interpretation. She throws away her whig and costume, she distorts her face and voice, she drags herself through her own sperm. But furthermost, she manages the small gestures: by just a change in tone or look, she gives the line a new meaning. Or she makes a movement with her hand or an exactly located pause and thereby highlights the comical in the baroque."

(Photo: © Sveinn Fannar Jóhannsson)

Eternal thanks to the team who made this work possible:

Concept: Henriette Pedersen
Performer: Caisa-Stina Forssberg
Set design: Olav Ryland Myrtvedt
Light: Tilo Hahn
Sound: Katrine Ganer Skaug
Costume: Kjell Nordström aka Baron von Bulldog
Dramaturgy: Kai Johnsen
Producer: Morten Kippe

(PS: I should add I only provided the script, I never took part in the concrete creation of the performance, the rehearsals etc. I was as happily surprised as anyone else in the audience! DS)

WINDSOR HOTEL

If any of my real or potential readeres or publishers should happen to be in Cairo the next few days, don't hesitate to visit me at the marvellous Windsor Hotel. I'll be at the bar all day until Thursday. Cheers.

FIONA GRAHAM IN SBR

The translator Fiona Graham recently wrote a flattering review of The Alchemist's Daughter:

"Edenborg, whose doctoral thesis dealt with the history of alchemy, writes convincingly of its occult rituals. More generally, he successfully conjures up the sights, sounds and smells of late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century Europe, bringing scenes and individuals to vigorous life. This is a ripping yarn with a difference; while its premise may seem preposterous in an age when alchemy has long been discredited, it may well prompt the more melancholy reader to reflect seriously on whether the Drakenstiernas’ Manichaean view of the world we live in is really so far-fetched."

Read the whole text in the Swedish Book Review.

PRESENTATION IN BOLOGNA

If you happen to attend the cultural festival "Cuore di Ghiaccio" in Bologna, please don't hesitate to listen to my translator Luca Vaccari being interviewed by the theatre and music expert Giordano Montecchi about my novel Händel e un destino perverso.

They will have 45 minutes to discuss my novel. The event takes place on August 1st, at 19:00 at the Teatri di Vita.

I'm really excited and wish I could be there!

This is how the seminar is described in the program:

"Quali perversioni si celano dietro l’angelica ispirazione musicale di Georg Friedrich Händel, il più grande compositore barocco del Settecento? Quale tipo di passione divorava il grande compositore, che andava in estasi di fronte ai ragazzi, o meglio ai cantanti castrati? Norra Skane ha definito il romanzo “Händel e un destino perverso” di Carl-Michael Edenborg “una vera orgia attraverso la sensualità di Händel, scritta in una prosa elegante e a tratti straordinariamente brillante, che dà una marcia in più al tocco spesso grottesco”…"

"What perversions lie behind the angelic musical inspiration of Georg Friedrich Handel, the greatest Baroque composer of the eighteenth century? What kind of passion devoured the great composer, who was in ecstasy in front of the boys of which the best singers were castrated? The newspaper Norra Skane has called Edenborg's novel Händel e un destino perverso "a real orgy through the sensuality of Händel, written in an elegant and sometimes extraordinarily brilliant prose, which gives an edge to the often grotesque story"..."

 Read more about the seminar here: 

http://agenda.comune.bologna.it/cultura/haendel-e-un-destino-perverso

And good luck, my dear translator Luca Vaccari!

HÄNDEL IN TURIN

Finally, the publisher has officially released Händel: un destino perverso, Luca Vaccari's brilliant translation of my novel, an historical fantasy about the composer Georg Friedrich Händel, Mitt grymma öde, that was released by Natur och kultur in 2012.

Here is a snapshot from Turin: