Henriette Rostrup

Henriette Rostrup is a Danish writer of both adult and children’s fiction. The novel - A YEAR OF FUNERALS (2015) was longlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature in 2016 and chosen as Aller Favorite in 2016. The graphic novel The Lake was nominated for best debut at the Ping-prize in 2018. The short story Brood appeared in Coal Hill Review Winter 2020 Issue, and the short story Children’s Stories was just published in Parhelion Literary Magazines Summer 2020 issue.

Pia Møller grew up in Salling, Denmark and graduated from Aarhus University. She came to the U.S. as a graduate student, earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies from George Mason University, Virginia, and spent a decade as an interdisciplinary college instructor. She now works as a program manager and grant writer for a refugee-serving organization in Rochester, New York and translates on the side. Her translation of Kenneth B. Andersen’s grade/teen novel The Die of Death appeared in 2019. She is currently at work translating the first volume of Rostrup’s The Dead City trilogy. Her translation of Rostrup’s short story “Brood” appeared in Coal Hill Review winter 2020 issue.

The Final Chapter

Towards the end of spring, when the air is still cold and bites at your cheeks, and a thick blanket of mist covers the ground, a large black truck approaches a small Danish town. When it reaches the town limit, it stops and a man jumps out. He’s in his forties, wearing a creased, high-end suit that looks as though he has slept in it. His hair, dark and sprinkled with gray, stands up from the back of his head like on a baby heavy with sleep. He runs his hands through it as he squints at the bright morning sun, which is beginning to penetrate the clouds. Then he waves at the truck driver, shuts the door, and turns to face the town.
Return to Author Index