An important voice in the psychiatry debate
Supervillain (Superskurk) is a rough, urgent and loving book written from inside a mental illness. The book is written by author and debater Anna Juul – and is one of the strong voices that our Danish publisher Lindhardt og Ringhof has helped bring out into the world.
Anna Juul has grappled with mental illness since her teenage years, and in her autofictional novel Supervillain (Superskurk), she tells the story of her life with mental illness with humour, seriousness and vulnerability.
Since its publication, Anna Juul and editor Iben Konradi Brodersen have realised how the book has made a difference – especially for the many readers who can see themselves reflected in it. It offers a different and unique insight into life with mental illness:
“It’s not a recovery story, and it’s not written by someone looking back. It’s sort of written from the inside. I could have used that myself, because it’s so hard when you’re in the middle of it,” says Anna Juul, adding that
Editor Iben Konradi Brodersen has particularly noticed how Supervillain has become a voice of its own in the debate about the psychiatric system:
“It makes a different contribution to positive change because reading Supervillain is different from watching a panel of experts talk about the psychiatric system”.
The book, which has been called “One of the most important books of 2023” by Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad, has added a new perspective to the public debate and pushed the conversation about psychiatry under pressure. As a result, in the summer of 2023, Anna Juul was named Health Debater of the Year by Danish Regions for her distinctive voice in the debate on the psychiatric system.
“Lindhardt og Ringhof should be a mouthpiece for many different voices: And Supervillain is one of the voices that it is important to get out into the world,” concludes Iben Konradi Brodersen.