Karen Blixen

Who is Karen Blixen?

Karen Blixen was a Danish author born near Copenhagen in 1885, who wrote in both Danish and English and often published under the pen name Isak Dinesen. In 1914 she moved to British East Africa (present-day Kenya) to run a coffee plantation, an experience that later inspired her acclaimed memoir 'Out of Africa' (1937), which vividly portrays colonial-era Kenya, its landscapes and peoples, and the eventual failure of the farm. After returning to Denmark she settled at the family estate of Rungstedlund. She achieved international recognition with 'Seven Gothic Tales' (1934), followed by 'Winter's Tales' and the collection 'Last Tales'. Her story 'Babette's Feast' was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, as was 'Out of Africa'. Known for her elegant, storytelling-rich prose and gothic imagination, she was several times considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature. She remained a celebrated literary figure in Denmark until her death at Rungstedlund in 1962.

Sources: Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), 'Out of Africa' (1937) · Isak Dinesen, 'Seven Gothic Tales' (1934) · Judith Thurman, 'Isak Dinesen: The Life of a Storyteller' (1982)