Siri Hustved is a highly decorated novelist, poet and essayist. Most recently, her novel ‘The Blazing World’ was longlisted for the 2014 Booker Prize. In this novel, Siri challenges the male dominated world of intellect, using the New York art scene as her backdrop, while also maintaining an incisive humour in her words.
Siri holds a great interest in this area dating back to the 1990’s and has published a collection of art essays entitled ‘Mysteries of the Rectangle’ in 2006. She has also written for the Guardian on this topic and has lectured at various museums.
She is also enthralled by the world of science and psychoanalysis, which has led her to contribute blogs to the New York Times and also publish ‘The Shaking Woman or a history of My Nerves’, which serves as both a memoir and a thorough investigation into the study of the mind.
This interest was related to her youth when she often suffered migraines and so the fascination began. Her diverse range of interests were also fostered during these years. Her mother, Ester, left Norway in the 1950’s to marry an American professor, Lloyd Hustved, also of Norwegian origin. Soon after, Siri was born. She grew up in Northfield, a small town in Minnesota, where she and her three younger sisters, Liv, Asti and Ingrid, attended school.
Siri at a book signing in the Gutter Bookshop, Dublin 8
Her father dedicated his life to Norwegian-American history and was widely recognised for his work. Siri regularly visited her parent’s home country and on two occasions spent a year of school there.
With such a textured upbringing, it is unsurprising that Siri also held academic ambitions. In 1977, she graduated from St. Olaf College, where her parents worked, with a BA in history. She then left for New York in 1978 and studied English at Columbia University. By 1986, she earned her PHD in English, which focussed on the work of Charles Dickens.
During this time she also dabbled in poetry with the collection ‘Reading to You’ published in 1982. However, her future lay as novelist, with her first work ‘The Blindfold’ released in 1992. These were followed by the international bestsellers ‘What I Loved’ and ‘The Summer Without Men’, for which she is perhaps most well known.
Join Susan as she enters the world of Siri Hustvedt. How has Siri’s life experiences shaped her as a writer? What are the roots of her creativity? And why has she attempted to challenge cultural misogyny in her latest book?
Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, 1813-55
Susan will then continue the Scandinavian theme and venture into the thoughts and teachings of Soren Kierkegaard with author, dramatist and philosopher Robert Ferguson. His recent book ‘Life Lessons from Kierkegaard’ provides a grounding in the Dane’s existentialist philosophy and demonstrates how they can easily be applied to life today.
Like Siri, Robert also holds a strong affection towards Norway, where he has lived since the 1980’s. His first published work was ‘Enigma’ a biography on Knut Hamsun, the Norwegian author and Nobel Prize winner. This was adapted as a television series in Norway. He has also adapted works by Hamsun and Henrik Ibsen for BBC radio, which have garnered much acclaim. Additionally, he has produced a history of the Vikings entitled ‘The Hammer and the Cross.’
Don’t forget to listen in, as Susan and gets a wholesome helping of the teaching of Kierkegaard. What was his impact on philosophy? And did he practice what he preached?
