CV

Pia Tafdrup, www.tafdrup.com, was born on 29 May 1952 in Copenhagen. She made her literary debut in 1981 and has till now published 20 collections of poetry: When an Angel Breaks her Silence, 1981; No Hold, 1982; The Innermost Zone, 1983; Spring Tide, 1985 (Eng. 1989); White Fever, 1986; The Bridge of Moments, 1988; The Crystal Forest, 1992; Territorial Song. A Jerusalem Cycle, 1994; Queen´s Gate, 1998 (Eng. 2001); Thousand Born 1999; The Salamander Quartet: The Whales in Paris, 2002 (Eng. in Tarkovsky´s Horses 2010); Tarkovsky´s Horses, 2006 (Eng. Tarkovsky´s Horses & Other Poems 2010), Boomerang, 2008, The Migrant Bird´s Compass. Poems. Gyldendal 2010 (Eng. Salamander Sun & Other Poems 2015), Salamander Sun 2012 (Eng. Salamander Sun & Other Poems 2015). Latest The Five Senses: The Taste of Steel 2014 (Eng. The Taste of Steel. The Smell of Snow), The Taste of Snow 2016 (Eng. The Taste of Steel. The Smell of Snow) , The Sight of Light, The Sound of Clouds 2020 and The Touch of Skin 2022. Furthermore she has published a statement of her poetics, Walking over the Water, 1991 about her poetic method and Jump Across The Shadow. Selected Poems 1981-2006, 2007. Pia Tafdrup has written two novels, Surrender, 2004 and Star Without Land, 2008, two plays, Death in the Mountains, 1988, also produced for radio and The Earth Is Blue, 1991, a libretto to a dance, The Town of Viso, 1999. She has edited two anthologies of contemporary Danish poetry, Constellations – an Anthology of Danish Poems, 1982 and Transformations. Poetry 1980-1985, 1985.

A portraitfilm, Thousand Born was made by Cæcilia Holbek Trier for Cosmo Film a/s in 2003. (DVD Tusindfødt. Portrætfilm Tafdrup GB. Cæcilia Holbek Trier. ISBN 8702041340. 2005)
Poetiske partiturer. Et portræt af Pia Tafdrups forfatterskab (ed.) Marianne Barlyng & Michael Kallesøe Schmidt. Spring, Gråsten 2022

In 1989 Pia Tafdrup was elected member of The Danish Academy. In 2009 Pia Tafdrup was elected member of The European Academy of Poetry. English versions of her poems have appeared in more than fifty literary journals in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. Poems have been translated into Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Icelandic, German, Dutch, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Polish, Hungarian, Rumanian, Slovenian, Slovakian, Russian, Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese in books, anthologies and magazines.

Pia Tafdrup has received a three year scholarship for authors from the Danish State Art Foundation, 1984; Holger Drachmann´s Grant, 1986; Henri Nathansen´s Birthday-Grant, 1987; Otto Rung´s Grant, 1987; Tagea Brandt´s Grant, 1989; Edith Rode´s Grant, 1991; Einar Hansens´s Grant, 1991; N. Bang´s Grant, 1992, Anckerske Grant, 1994; The Literature Prize of Weekend Avisen, 1995; The Grant in Memory of Morten Nielsen, 1995; Emil Aarestrup´s Medal, 1996; Danish Literature Prize for Women from Ragna Sidén´s Foundation, 1997; Lifelong Artists´ Grants 1998 and The Nordic Council´s Literature Prize, 1999. In 2001 she was appointed Knight of The Order of Dannebrog. The Nordic Prize 2006 from The Swedish Academy and The Ján Smrek Prize. Slovakia, 2009.