Karen Blixen was an internationally known author, born in 1885. She grew up in a household with five siblings, where she was the second born. In 1895, their father hanged himself, most likely due to a long battle with depression after having served in war as a young man. Karen was taught at home, where she showed a great talent for art. She also learned English and French, received art lessons, and in 1904, she was accepted into the Art Academy. Three years later, she made her debut with the story “Eneboerne” under a pseudonym. She continued to publish works for a couple of years, but they were never recognized.

In 1912, she got engaged to Baron Bror von Blixen. Together they traveled to what is now known as Kenya, where Bror became the manager of a coffee farm outside Nairobi, mostly known as “The African Farm.” Shortly after the wedding, Karen was diagnosed with syphilis. She received quicksilver treatment, which left her with lifelong ailments. In 1921, due to Bror being a bad manager, the company that owned the farm decided to pass the position to Karen. Karen and Bror became separated after that. She later fell in love with an English nobleman and military aviator, who passed away in a plane crash in 1931.

Karen struggled to keep the farm going, but in the same year, the farm was declared bankrupt. Karen was now 46, ruined and broke, and had to move back to Denmark with her mother into her childhood home. Here she started writing more and more. Her work “Seven Gothic Tales” was enthusiastically met by critics in the US, under the name Isak Dinesen, which she had chosen from the Bible. The collection of stories was also published in England, and later, after rewriting by herself, in Denmark. In 1937, the story “Den Afrikanske Farm” or “Out of Africa” was published, which cemented her as an international author.

In the 1950s, she had been a candidate for the Nobel Prize for literature multiple times, though she never received it. In 1962, she passed away at 77 years old after years of illnesses. Her writing was iconic. In my opinion, her language was old, colorful, and wonderfully descriptive, filled with symbols and pictures. Often, you could find references to world literature in her work, and the themes surrounding her writing were life, fate, identity, and love. Her stories often took place during the 17th and 18th centuries, but also

often took place in imaginary worlds. Despite all that, her story “Out of Africa” is the most well-known of the bunch, and I highly recommend it and all her other work. You can visit her childhood home in Rungsted or the farm outside of Nairobi.