„Ich habe eine harte Vergangenheit, und damit gehe ich offen um, aber ich schreibe fiktive Erzählungen, die auf andere Weise hart sind.“
Dark lives and vulnerable souls
Maria Kjos Fonn (29) is fed up with the Norwegian debate about reality literature and whether this or that author is writing themselves into their books. Both for herself and for others, she hopes for a more diverse response when Kinderwhore is released in German this fall.
She recently returned from the book fair in Leipzig, where she made an interesting discovery: The German-speaking people had a number of questions around the title of the novel, especially since “kinder” means “child” in German – and some were even upset.
Humor as a survival mechanism
“The book’s protagonist, Charlotte, self-objectifies in order to avoid having to digest her broken childhood. Misfortune rarely strikes once if trauma has been inflicted on a child.
Neglect often leads to choosing poorer partners, getting into drugs, etc. I don’t like to write about myself – that gets dangerous – but I couldn’t have written this book without my own experiences with psychiatric institutions, traumas, drug rehab. I probably know more about this kind of thing than the average Norwegian.”
Are you tired of everyone wanting to write about your darkness?
“It’s true that I describe vulnerable souls with darkness in their lives, but I’m happy when someone brings up the humor in what I write. That’s a survival mechanism as well.”
What kind of plan did you have for writing the book when you got started?
“I had no plan, it just HAPPENED – I grabbed hold of what was burning right there and then. At the very beginning, I tried writing completely different things – some epic Bible stuff and other literary forms. But this was where I found a voice that worked.”
“Dirty realistic trilogy”
Why short stories in your first book?
“I don’t know if I really had a plan other than that I wanted to be a short story writer. I always wanted to write short stories, but I don’t really distinguish between literary forms in this way. There are fragments and some short story elements in Kinderwhore as well. It actually started as a short story, but started to grow and demanded a little more, started requiring a different way of working with it.”
Your next book?
“...Is well underway. It seems to be flowing nicely, and I think my third book will be related to the first two. Time will tell. I’ve called it a dirty realistic trilogy – or maybe triplets?
A novel?
“Yes, one novel after the other. I got a taste for the format – really getting into a character and staying there for a long time. Novels are also the most popular, without that really controlling what I choose to write. People like to dwell on characters and stay in a story for a long time, maybe even a couple of weeks.”
A troubled past
Maria Kjos Fonn has received the State Work Stipend for two years – and it’s changed a lot for her.
“Now, I can focus more and have made a plan for how much I’ll work and read, even though producing fiction is hard to set a timeline on. I write the best in the morning, and in the evenings I don’t have anything more to give. I have to have a clear head, coffee, often music, and I prefer writing in cafés, on trains, in a waiting room... anywhere, really. People have said I really hit the keyboard, that I almost attack it. I do most things with a bit of verve – when I’m exercising, too. I push myself too hard and get injured. I guess I’m kind of a Type A person, for better or for worse.”
Writing about this darkness – do you ever get upset?
“It’s an advantage to be able to write about it when you’ve had a troubled past, but sometimes I get jealous of writers who only write about their relationship dramas, but otherwise have seemingly nice lives.”
What kinds of inquiries do you get from readers?
“It’s often from people who have backgrounds that are similar to the characters in my books and who feel understood. I appreciate that. These are definitely not young adult books, but they’re about young people. I like young people. They’re so immature, so vulnerable and extreme, especially in the early teens. They have all the powers of the world, but don’t know what to do with them.”
From the Norwegian by Olivia Lasky