The author's desk: Nina Lykke

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Portrait
Written by Alva Gehrmann

Today we present the author Nina Lykke's "running desk"

Nina Lykke, Photo: Jo MIchael

Nina Lykke (b. 1965) has written a clever and ironic novel about middleclass Norwegian families, published in Germany as Aufruhr in mittleren Jahren (Nagel & Kimche; orig. title ‘Nei og atter nei’, 2016). She lives with her second husband in a pretty wooden house with yellow-painted walls, not far from Oslo University. Her two daughters from her first marriage are long since grown up and there is plenty of room in the house.

Lykke’s study is situated on the top floor, just under the roof. At first glance, her work space looks unassuming but the height of the table is adjustable and instead of a chair, she uses an under-desk treadmill. “My thoughts flows better when I’m moving,” she says. The device has been set to a speed of 2.3 kilometres per hour, the tempo of a gentle walk that doesn’t interfere with her writing. An integral timer means that she can do away with timing herself. “It often happens that I feel just five minutes have passed and then I realise that I’ve been working for three-quarters of an hour.“

Nina Lykke's "running desk", Photo: Alva Gehrmann

As she walks upstairs, she uses a wickerwork basket to hold important things like her smartphone and various charger cables. That way, she always has a hand free to carry her mug of hot chocolate. “I’m rather childish about this but it’s a daily habit and I always drink from the same mug,” Lykke admits with a laugh. She brought the blue-and-white patterned mug with her from Mexico in 2013. She went walking in the Mexican mountains at Oaxaca to reach the very place where chocolate had first been found. The black skull also comes from Mexico. The object tells her “remember you are mortal” – it serves as a ‘memento mori’. Mexicans honour their dead in ways that differ from ours, as for instance on the Day of the Dead – el Día de los Muertos – when they celebrate with a colourful street festival.

At present, the vital writer is completing on a new novel and the printed pages of her manuscript can be seen on her working table – but it is still a secret.

Translated from the German by Anna Paterson

www.hanser-literaturverlage.de/autor/nina-lykke/

www.ninalykke.com

The author's desk