We are so happy to announce that Lotta Elstad has been nominated to the Norwegian Young Critics Prize for the novel I Refuse to Think (Jeg nekter å tenke) - warm congratulations! And last week the novel was sold to KiWi Verlag in Germany!
Here is what the jury of the Norwegian Young Critics Prize had to say about the nomination:
"I refuse to think is a book that will make you breathless. Elstad is like the eccentric little sister of Vigdis Hjorth, writing lightly and restlessly, but sometimes with an underlying rage, on topics like abortion, the EU and the new subclass of the precariat.
We meet the young, but not so terribly young, freelance journalist Hedda Møller, who has become pregnant unintentionally and wants an abortion. However, she is temporarily prevented by a three-day waiting period – a law the Christian Democrats actually tried to impose when they lost their battle to introduce a medical "conscience clause." Covering the ensuing three days, the story moves at an accelerating pace, while Hedda tries to stick to her decision.
Elstad's novel is full of references, and combines everything from feminist criticism of French philosophers to abortion advice drawn from the Internet's darkest abyss. Hedda is so tightly coupled to her own smartphone that it's hard to see where her own thoughts end and Google's algorithms begin. But you don’t need to understand all the references to enjoy this book. Because beneath the veil of the contemporary sits one of literature’s most timeless themes – the right to decide over your own life, and the struggle to control your own destiny."
We have our fingers crossed for the win on March 18th 2018!
We also congratulate German KiWi Verlag on the acquisition of this truly special novel! The German readers are really in for a treat!