Thomas Korsgaard Receives The Golden Laurel Wreaths 2021
Thomas Korsgaard is awarded The Golden Laurel Wreaths for his novel "You Probably Should Have Been There".
As the youngest recipient ever, 26-year-old Thomas Korsgaard receives The Golden Laurel Wreaths for his novel "You Probably Should Have Been There".
The author was surprised this afternoon with champagne and flowers at his publishing house Lindhardt and Ringhof by the board of The Golden Laurel Wreaths association, employees of the publishing house, and the press.
"This reviewer surrendered and cried at the end," wrote Anne Sophia Hermansen in her review in Berlingske, while Børsen stated: "Thomas Korsgaard's hallmark is to write easily about the difficult things in life."
"You Probably Should Have Been There" is the last book in his critically acclaimed trilogy about Tue. The two previous ones "If Someone Should Come By" (2017) and "One Day We'll Laugh About It" (2018) were also beloved by readers and reviewers.
The book is a raw and humorous narrative about being outside all communities and constantly fearing being discovered. Tue has moved to Copenhagen, but when his landlord evicts him, he suddenly finds himself homeless. Returning to Skive and the family with the violent father is unthinkable. With his last belongings, he drifts for the coming months, finding shelter at random places and with dubious characters.
“These three novels will be indispensable when the literary history of the Danish autofiction current is to be written,” wrote Weekendavisen.
He himself says: “Write about yourself, that’s all you really know,” Suzanne Brøgger once wrote, I believe. I find that very apt. I do not write based on a certain theme or current event. I write based on something that's deep inside, bubbling and seething. It’s just about getting hold of it. My ambition is to tell about the powerlessness and humiliations that we as humans can inflict on each other. I want to tell about "the losers". The fallen, the gamblers, the banished sons and daughters, those who commit psychological terror against their children, the stupid, people without teeth. Because I know them and know something about that. That’s what I come from.”