Ebba Hentze


Ebba Hentze was a Faroese writer of children's books and a poet and translator.
She received three Faroese literature and cultural prizes: Barnamentanarheiðursløn Tórshavnar býráðs in 1984, Faroese Literature Prize in 2006 and Faroese Cultural Prize in 2008, together with grants from Denmark and Sweden. Some of her books were written in Danish and some in Faroese. She was most active as a translator, having rendered around a hundred books into Danish from English, German, Faroese, Swedish and Norwegian.

Biography

Ebba Hentze was an adopted child and grew up in Tvøroyri. Her parents were Peter Christian Pauli Hentze and Olivia Sophie Skaalum from Hvalba. As a young girl she moved to Denmark to study. She graduated from High School at the Statens Kursus in Copenhagen in 1950 and then studied literature and linguistics at the University of Copenhagen. In the 1950s she obtained scholarships enabling her to study at the universities in Uppsala, Sweden, in Vienna, Rome and in the Sorbonne.
She worked as a publishing consultant for Politiken and Gyldendal and on a freelance basis for Danish, Swedish and Faroese radio. She moved back to the Faroe Islands in the late 1970s and played an important role among writers and other intellectuals in Tórshavn. She was a member of the Faroese committee, which nominates Faroese books to the Nordic Council's Literature Prize. She was an honorary member of the Faroese Writer's Association.
Hentze published a few poems in the Danish literature magazine Hvedkorn. These poems were her debut as a writer. She wrote several short stories in Danish which were published in Politikens Magasin. In 1985 she published an important contribute to Faroese women's literature with her prose poem Kata, ein seinkaður nekrologur. The poem tells about a woman who gives up her dreams to get an education, because she must take care of her younger siblings after their mother's death. Ebba Hentze made a great effort to make Faroese literature known outside the Faroe Islands, first of all by translating Faroese novels and poems by various writers and poets to Danish and by her efforts to find publishing houses who wished to publish the books. She translated several of Jóanes Nielsen's novels and poetry collections. She also translated Rói Patursson's poetry collection Líkasum, which won The Nordic Council's Literature Prize.

Selected works

Children's books

  • Antonia og Morgenstjernen, 1981
  • Antonia midt i det hele, 1982 -
  • Bjørns søn, 1983, written in Danish, later translated into Faroese with the title Mamman eigur meg. The story takes place in the village of Hvalba, where Ebba's mother came from.
  • Mia, skúlagenta í Havn, 1987, children's book, written in Faroese
  • Gulleygað, 1992, children's book, written in Faroese

Short stories

  • Juli, 1986, in ''Brá''

Poems

  • Kata, ein seinkaður nekrologur, 1984 in Brá number 5 She also published in a school book for 14- to 16-year-old pupils: Les 2.

Faroese books translated to Danish by Ebba Hentze

  • Bølgerne leger på stranden, Gyldendal, 1980.
  • Livets Sommer, Forlaget Vindrose, 1982.
  • Med Edgar Allan Poe i Solhavn. Husets Forlag, 1984. 12 chosen short stories by Hanus Andreassen
  • Ligesom, 1986,. Original title: Líkasum
  • Saltet i dampende middagsgryder, 1988, Vindrose. Hentze chose the poems from his earliest collection of poetry, and translated them to Danish for this poetry collection.
  • Færøhesten, 1990
  • Gummistøvler er de eneste tempelsøjler vi ejer på Færøerne, 1992 Original title: Gummistivlarnir eru tær einastu tempulsúlurnar sum vit eiga í Føroyum
  • Kirkerne på havets bund, 1994,. Original title: Kirkjurnar á havsins botni
  • Grå oktober, 1995 Original title: Gráur oktober
  • Sting, 1998,. Original title: Pentur
  • I morgen er der atter en dag - it was nominated for The Nordic Council's Literature Prize, first in 2000, but was postponed to 2001. The book has not yet been published in Danish.
  • Blodprøver, 2003
  • Hedder noget land weekend?, 2005

Honours