By Nava Atlas | On January 16, 2025 | Comments (0)
In pondering whether certain classic women authors should or shouldn’t be cancelled for holding abhorrent views I’m not advocating for or against; just musing on this vexing question.
Recently, Lynne Weiss, a contributor to this site, asked me what I’m going to do about Alice Munro. Given the magnitude of Munro’s recent posthumous controversy, I told Lynne I’m not going to do anything. I never got around to reading anything by Munro, truth be told, so it will be easy for me to continue to ignore her.
Then, in the past week, I keep seeing news stories about a certain male author who is getting into more and more trouble More women are coming forward with allegations. I don’t want to say who it is, since he’s still living. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On December 16, 2019 | Updated September 2, 2022 | Comments (0)
Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen (1885 – 1962) is a masterful collection of short stories by the Danish author best known for Out of Africa (1937), a now-controversial memoir of her life as a coffee plantation owner in the colonized Kenya of the 1920s.
In 1931, the plantation’s fortunes collapsed, and she returned to her family home in Denmark from Kenya. Karen Christenze Dinesen was the author’s original name, and she was known as Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, or simply Karen Blixen, during her disastrous marriage.
Upon her return to her home country, she began writing in earnest. In 1934, Seven Gothic Tales, a collection of stories she had written in English, was published. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On August 31, 2019 | Updated September 2, 2022 | Comments (0)
It may be fair to say that the acclaimed 1987 film, Babette’s Feast, is better known than the short story by Danish author Isak Dinesen upon which it’s based. In fact, it’s possible that fans of the movie aren’t aware that it’s based on Dinesen’s story, nor even anything about her.
Isak Dinesen (1885 – 1962) was the nom de plume of this writer, best known for her 1937 memoir Out of Africa, which details her life as the owner of a coffee plantation in colonial Kenya.
Born Karen Christenze Dinesen into a family of aristocrats, merchants, and landed gentry, she was later known after marriage as Karen von Blixen-Finecke. The marriage conferred on her the title of Baroness, but didn’t last. Her ex-husband’s philandering left her with the lifelong effects of syphilis. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On March 10, 2018 | Updated January 31, 2023 | Comments (2)
Isak Dinesen (April 17, 1885 – September 7, 1962) was a Danish author best known for Out of Africa (1937), a now-controversial memoir of her life as the owner of a coffee plantation in colonial Kenya of the 1920s.
She’s also considered a master of short-form fiction. One of her best known collections is Seven Gothic Tales, and a standout short story (turned film) is “Babette’s Feast” (1958).
Though admired as a master storyteller, contemporary reconsiderations of her work shed light on the inherent racism in her portrayals of the Africans she lived amongst during the colonial period. This issue will be discussed later in this brief biography. A complex personality, Dinesen’s place in modern literature continues to be debated. Read More→
By Nava Atlas | On June 2, 2017 | Updated October 27, 2022 | Comments (0)
Isak Dinesen(1885 – 1962), born Karen Christenze Dinesen, was a Danish author best known for her 1937 memoir, Out of Africa, and her long short story, Babette’s Feast.
Later known as Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, she was published in the United States, after being denied publication in both Denmark and England.
Admired for her poetic prose, her work has endured for her adventurous life as well as her literary talent. Here are quotes by Isak Dinesen hinting at her philosophy on life and her storytelling skills. Read More→
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