IN BRIEF


over the past year or so? On the international market, Man Booker nominee Roy Jacobsen has been one of Norway’s most sought-after authors. In total he is being sold in over 40 territories, and is gaining substantial international recog- nition, especially for his trilogy about Ingrid Barrøy. Vigdis Hjorth’s


Q&A Tom Harald Jenssen


It has been


important for Norwegian literary


Will and Testament has received immense attention both in Norway and internationally. It is being sold in over 20 territories, and the English edition, published in the UK and US by Verso Books, is now garnering fantastic reviews in the Financial Times and New Statesman to name a few. The Paris Review compares her to important authors and artists such as Elfriede Jelinek and Marina Abramovic. Lars Saabye Christensen has


just released the last volume in his Echoes of the City trilogy, which will be launched in Germany by btb Verlag and in the UK by MacLehose Press this autumn, and is a major bestselling work. We have also published important non-fiction titles , such as Women in Battle by Marte Breen and Jenny Jordahl, sold in 26 territories, and Anna Fiske’s illustrated non- fiction title for children How Do You Make a Baby?


04 On the rights side, are there any books or


authors UK publishers should be interested in acquiring at this Frankfurt? Beate Grimsrud is receiving very good reviews for her new novel I Suggest That We Wake Up, which is a book English-language publishers should pay attention to. In this novel Grimsrud delves into basic existential conditions. When you come to understand that something as obvious as one’s own life can end at any given time, which questions do you ask then, and how can you best use your time? We are also experiencing great interest in new literary voices


agencies and publishers to


use this [Guest of Honour]


initiative as a


stepping stone into the future


such as Linn Strømsborg, who in her latest novel Never, ever, ever writes about voluntary childlessness and what it means to choose not to have children, especially if you live in a part of the world that has the best conditions for having and raising children. The novel was pre- empted in Germany and Denmark, and thematically places itself in a trend that deals with women’s rights, feminism, and equality in general. Magne Hovden’s


Circus received major attention at this year’s London Book Fair, and is


a book published on Cappelen Damm’s more commercial list. Eivind Hofstad Evjemo and Lotta Elstad are significant voices that international publishers should pay extra attention to, along with non-fiction such as Niels Christian Geelmuyden’s Spermageddon and the upcoming book by Hilde Østby on the key to creativity.


05 Do you think the Guest of Honour programme at


FBF will be beneficial to the Norwegian book industry? Being Guest of Honour gives us a unique opportunity to thor- oughly present and make visible Norwegian literature, not only to a German audience, but to the rest of the world. During the fair itself, Norwegian literature will be presented in the Guest of Honour Pavilion, but also on several stages on and outside the fair grounds. With the year-round Guest


of Honour activities, in 2019 Norwegian authors will stand on a German stage as many as 900 times, and there’s a massive inter- est in Norwegian authors from German media. We also see an increased interest in Norwegian literature from other languages, including English-language terri- tories. It has been important for Norwegian literary agencies and publishers to use this initiative as a stepping stone into the future, and we hope to see a continuing interest in Norwegian literature in the years to come.


Behind the numbers Multifaceted Cappelen hit by vagaries of Norway’s market


If there was an equivalent entity to Cappelen Damm in the UK market, it would be like a combination of Penguin Random House, Hachette, Foyles (pre-Waterstones buyout), 50% of Audible and Curtis Brown. Norway’s biggest books conglomer-


ate is joint-owned by Bonnier and Egmont, created in its current form by a merger in 2007, of two of the country’s most venerable houses: Cappelen, launched as a religious publisher by Jørgen Wright Cappelen in Oslo (then called Christiania) in 1829; and N W Damm & Sons, founded by Danish immigrant Niels Wilhem Damm in 1843. The Cappelen Damm publishing


side typically accounts for around a third of sales in Norway—Den Norske Forleggerforening (Norwegian Publishers Association) annual statis- tics put Cappelen Damm’s market share in 2018 at 32.7%, down from 34.3% in the previous year. That would put it ahead of PRH and Hachette’s combined 31.2% share of the UK market. The “big boys” dominate the Norwegian market, with just three players—Cappelen Damm, Gyldendal (27.7% in 2018) and Aschehoug (11.1%)—claiming over 70% of sales.


 Cappelen Damm has fingers in


many pies, as it also owns 13-book- shop mini-chain Tanum, a 50% stake in audio streaming service Storytel, book clubs, distribution centres and Cappelen Damm Agency, the literary agency which represents some of Norway’s biggest authors including Roy Jacobsen, Lars Saabye Christensen and picture book star Anna Fiske. However, Cappelen Damm’s last


set of results were not rosy. In fact, they were its worst in 12 years, with revenues slipping 3.7% to 1.43bn NOK (£127.4m), and the group posting a 49m NOK (£4.4m) loss, its first time in the red since the merger year of 2007. The losses were largely on the retailing side, with Tanum and the book clubs plummeting, although contextually the Norwegian market as a whole dropped 6.3% in 2018. A big difficulty has been Tanum’s concession at Oslo’s Gardermoen airport, plus there have been write-offs due to investments in expanding the publisher’s education division. When announcing the results earlier this year, Jenssen said the group was already turning things around, and would be “back to a good old Cappelen Damm level” next year.


A BRANCH OF BOOKSHOP MINI-CHAIN TANUM


Cappelen Damm’s stand is located in Hall 5.0, A53 TheBookseller.com 23


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