Jensen, Carsten

Carsten Jensen is a Danish journalist, author and culture writer. He was born in Marstal on Ærø island, the same town and island that were depicted in his best-selling novel We, the Drowned. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Aalborg. Here, Jensen was not at all happy. He was bullied at school and, early on, took refuge in the world of books. After obtaining his degree, he travelled to India for the first time. Once back home and twenty years old, he began studying literary history at the University of Copenhagen. He obtained his doctoral degree in 1980 with a dissertation on the working-class author Hans Kirk. It was later published with the title Folkelighed og utopi (1981).