About Ane Riel
Author Ane Riel
A quirky and original voice
Ane Riel is a Danish author of four fiction novels. In April 2023 her fifth book – a short story collection called CUTS AND BRUISES (Små stød) – was released i Denmark.
Riel’s work is published in 31 languages and she has won 7 literary awards (been nominated for 14).
She is often described as a new, exciting voice with a refreshingly quirky and original take on language and narrative. She likes to deal with the tortured or conflicted mind and enjoys pushing the plot to its sickest, darkest, even most grotesque limits. And yet the story never becomes unequivocally bleak or depressing since its characters and their actions are depicted with a (perhaps worrying) degree of understanding, compassion and often, humour.
A fascination with contrasts and differ from the norm is a defining characteristic of Riel’s authorship. The same can be said of small, surprising twists that take the plot in unexpected directions
*
After having published a handful of educational books for children Ane Riel debuted as a novelist in 2013 with THE BUTCHER OF LISELEJE. This humorous and grotesque tale of a small Danish village won a debut award in Denmark and was soon sold for translation. Also, Riel represented Denmark with it at The European First Novel Festival in Budapest in 2014.
However, Riel’s popular literary breakthrough came with her second novel RESIN (2015), a psychological drama about the little daughter of a compulsive hoarder. It was enthusiastically received by Danish critics and has since then been enjoying praise internationally. In 2019 it was adapted into a feature film.
RESIN has been published in 31 countries, among these are UK, China, Spain and France (Résine). Also, the novel has won several national and international awards, including the Glass Key in 2016, claiming its spot as that year’s best Nordic thriller. Scroll down to read more about the awards.
It goes for both RESIN and THE BUTCHER OF LISELEJE that they were written and published as works of literary fiction, and yet they were also welcomed into the crime genre – maybe because of their main characters’ somewhat open relationship with the law. And so, in some countries RESIN has been presented as a thriller or crime novel. Ane Riel herself, like her Danish publishers, does not regard it as such, though, but purely as a work of literary fiction.
BEAST, Riel’s third literary novel – and this time there should be no doubt – is a story inspired by a true case of an unusually strong baby from Germany and also with references to John Steinbeck’s work. This drama about strenght, love and guilt is taking place in a rural setting somewhere in southern Europe. BEAST came out in Denmark in 2019.
With CLOCKWORK, her latest novel from 2021, Ane Riel returns to a setting of a tiny village in Denmark. It’s a story about an old lady living alone with an antique grandfather’s clock and the memories of a marriage that didn’t end quite as it was supposed to. And yes, it has a surprising twist!
The French edition called LES FANTÔMES NE PLEURENT PAS was released on Éditions du Seuil in 2023.
“A time bomb of a novel. Riel masters the literary wheel like a Swiss watchmaker.” – KNACK Magazine, Belgium
Info on the 2023 short story collection, CUTS AND BRUISES, (SMÅ STØD) is availabe here (Danish).
To find more info on each book, get press material etc, please choose from the English menu in the side/top panel.
Or scroll down to read more.
Awards
RESIN
- The Glass Key / Best Nordic suspense novel 2016
- The Harald Mogensen Award / Best Danish suspense novel 2016
- Den Gyllene Kofoten / Best suspence novel translated into Swedish 2017
- The Golden Bullet / Best suspense novel translated into Norwegian 2017
- The ThrillZone Award (The Jury Prize) / Best thriller translated into Dutch 2019
- Finalist for The Danish Broadcasting Company’s Best Novel Award 2016
- Shortlisted for The Petrona Award 2018 / Best Scandinavian suspense novel coming out in the UK
- Nominated for The Readers’ Best Novel Award 2016
- Nominated for The International Dublin Literary Award 2020
BEAST
- Nominated for the Martha Award 2020 aka The Readers’ Favourite Author Award
- Nominated for the ThrillZone Award 2020 (The Netherlands)
CLOCKWORK
- Shortlisted for the TrillZone Award 2022 (The Netherlands)
THE BUTCHER OF LISELEJE
- Best crime novel debut 2014
For the authorship
- The Niels Matthiasen’s Memorial Award 2016 (cultural award)
Please go to the PRESS SECTION for bio and press photos for free download.
The Niels Matthiasen’s Memorial Award 2016
Danish Culture Prize
In 2016 Ane Riel was awarded with the prestigious Danish culture prize ‘The Niels Matthiasens Memorial Award’ (Niels Matthiasens Mindelegat) for her authorship so far. The prize ceremony took place in the Ministry of Culture in Copenhagen.
“Ane Riel has manifested herself as an author of unique talent, extraordinary courage and a rare imagination. Along with her command of the subtleties of language, she has positioned herself at the forefront of her genre in record time. She is clearly not a “one hit wonder”. With an imagination bordering on the grotesque and her exceptional writing style, she has forged a universe entirely of her own making.’’
– from the jury of the Grant in Memorial of Niels Matthiasen
The list of previous award recipients includes national icons like musicians Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Palle Mikkelborg and Michala Petri, actress Ghita Nørby, writer Benny Andersen, film director Thomas Vinterberg and architect Jørn Utzon.
Composer Maria Frank, author Ane Riel, actress Lisbet Dahl