Culture | Published: 10 October 2024 16:09
During the years 2012–2019, Erika Hedenström was the Church of Sweden’s cultural secretary. The work included being the project manager for the See the Man scene at the Book Fair together with Mikael Ringlander, which included leading conversations.
One of those she interviewed in 2019 was Han Kangwhich today has become known as the 2024 literature prize winner.
Her most famous work
Erika Hedenström had prepared for the interview by, among other things, reading one of Han Kang’s most famous works, Vegetarians. The reading was physical.
– Vegetarians meant a striking experience.
The book is about a woman who makes a choice, to stop eating meat, for which she is punished in various ways.
– I thought Han Kang’s existential and ethical themes were a good fit for See the Man.
The conversation with Han Kang was held in English, but the language confusion on stage made nuances and questions disappear, she says.
– It was perhaps not my very best interview, says Erika Hedenström and laughs.
– I actually don’t know how much she understood my questions. Some of my conversations on the See the Man stage turned out really well, I think, this wasn’t one of them. But I thought it was extremely interesting to meet her.
How was Han Kang?
– I experienced her as shy and withdrawn, a writer who wants her literature to speak. Maybe it’s not her thing to analyze her own works in front of an audience. What she wants to say is, I think, in her books. And the books are the way she wants to say it. Something I really respect.
– It is important to protect the idea that an author should not have to be a public figure, an entertaining influencer who promotes his own books. Here we are talking about an author who speaks through his works.
Is there any other book that you particularly like?
– The white book which we talked about on See the Man, is about what happens when personal and collective traumas are not taken care of and is a fantastic literary craft.
