Kåre Bluitgen


Kåre Bluitgen is a Danish writer and journalist whose works include a biography of Muhammad. In the 1970s Bluitgen was politically active on the Danish left, namely within the Left Socialists.
WWW bluitgen.dk

Education and career

Kåre Bluitgen received professional training in teaching and journalism, but has worked as a writer since 1994. His works includes a wide range of novels for both children, teenagers and adults. In addition, he has authored non-fiction, plays, films etc. Kåre Bluitgen has also worked as a translator, lecturer, publisher, and instructor in Folk High Schools in Denmark. Kåre Bluitgen has written both historical novels and fantasy, but often the themes of his books have been political, religious and philosophical.
He has received a number of the most distinguished Danish literary prizes for his internationally-focused works, and his books have been translated into numerous languages.
Bluitgen has travelled widely in connection with his books and films, visiting North Korea, Eritrea, South Africa, Mexico, Kurdistan, Kyrgyzstan, Burma, Haiti and Liberia, amongst other countries.

Works

  • Ernesto
  • Bomuldens dronning
  • Jaguaren ved verdens ende
  • Vi har iført os ligklæder
  • Sabers udsendinge
  • Bødlens bud
  • Lossen med guldører
  • Erobrerne
  • Og stjernene er af guld
  • Himmelbrønden
  • En kuffert i Marokko
  • Løbende Bjørn
  • En støvle faldt fra himlen
  • Til gavn for de sorte
  • Døgnfluen Viva
  • Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv
  • The Koran and the life of the Prophet Muhammad
  • Koranen kommenteret Illustrated Qur'an for teens, illustrated by Bosch Fawstin

''Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv'' image controversy

When he wrote the children's book Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv ) ), he apparently had difficulty finding illustrators to draw Muhammad for the book, for fear of reprisals from Islamic extremists. The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten responded by asking 40 illustrators to make caricatures of Muhammad. Twelve of the caricatures were published in the newspaper on 30 September 2005, sparking the international Muhammad cartoons controversy.
Bluitgen's book was peripheral to these events; there is no evidence that anything actually contained in Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv was a direct cause of the ensuing controversy.