Giramondo to publish three novels by acclaimed Danish writer Helle Helle: they, Hafni Says and Hey Hafni
Giramondo is delighted to be publishing three novels by Helle Helle, ‘one of Scandinavia’s finest authors’ (Dagbladet), with translation by Martin Aitken. All three books are all set in the same fictional universe, with recurring characters and settings. they will be published in February 2026, followed by Hafni Says in September 2026 and Hey Hafni in February 2027. The titles will be publishing simultaneously by New Directions in the United States, and new literary press Akoya Publishing in the United Kingdom.
Over her three decades of writing, Helle’s works have been translated into twenty-four languages, and widely praised by critics worldwide. Her awards include the Danish Critics’ Prize, the Danish Academy’s Beatrice Prize and the P.O. Enquist Award, and she is a recipient of the Lifetime Award from the Danish Arts Foundation.
Giramondo is proud to share this remarkable work with readers in Australia and New Zealand over the coming twelve months.
Praise for Helle Helle:
Helle has enchanting gifts as a storyteller…the words so light they nearly float off the page.
New York Times
One of my favorite Danish writers – she’s the master.
Olga Ravn, The Guardian
One of Scandinavia’s finest authors.
Dagbladet
Helle Helle’s minimalism isn’t boring; it crackles with mystery. It’s the everyday, and yet it’s insistently beautiful.
Weekendavisen
You laugh and laugh, cry and cry. Not bawling or sobbing, but quiet and intense. That’s what it’s like reading Helle Helle.
Politiken
Hafni’s story makes you both laugh and cry. Full of situational comedy and consummate humour keen to the quirks of language. Full of sorrow and anxiety, simultaneously conveyed and assuaged by Helle’s marvellous writing… I envy anyone who is about to read this novel.
Politiken 6/6 hearts
Helle Helle surpasses herself with Hafni’s shame and screw-ups…Like few writers, Helle Helle manages to reproduce herself in such a way that each new novel buds from the one(s) before it, not as a clone or a one-to-one copy, but as one of those small wonders that life (biological and literary) every once in a while bestows upon us. A kind of literary-evolutionary self-propagation, a self-refining process of cell division, the art of writing at its very best.
Berlingske 6/6 stars
Helle Helle distills the art of understatement.
Jyllands-Posten
Helle Helle is a star in her native Denmark… she’s worth the wait.
Anthony Cummins, Metro
Helle Helle is a beautiful stylist… deeply mysterious whilst staying entirely naturalistic – reminiscent of some of the less far out works of Marguerite Duras or Anna Kavan.
Mark Diston, Register
Deeply thoughtful.
Paris Review
