29.3.2011
Danish author is writing a book live at Copenhagen Airport

Passengers will have an opportunity to read and comment as Danish author Thomas Aagaard Skovmand sits at a desk in the busy transit area of Copenhagen Airport and writes his new thriller which will also take place at Copenhagen Airport.

In an ocean of travellers, at a desk on wheels and with a display large enough for people to read his manuscript as he writes it,  this is how Danish author Thomas Aagaard Skovmand will be writing his new thriller live at Copenhagen Airport, where the book’s plot will also unfold.

The author has recently had the opportunity to follow various people in their work at the airport, among others he has observed the Copenhagen Airport fire department, police, customs authorities, the sea gull hunters and air traffic controllers at work. This has given him an insight into and a feel for everyday life at the airport, and now he will be sitting among the confusion of people in the transit area to write his book, which will be published in late 2011 by Danish publishing house Byens Forlag.

“With my earlier books I tried to give readers different experiences reading aloud at various locations. For instance, if one of the chapters took place in a dark basement, I took the readers along by visiting such a location and reading aloud from the chapter there. I have also read aloud from my books at a kiosk counter, in lavatories, and even from the trunk of a car in which one of my protagonists was trapped. For my new book, I have decided to move the entire writing process on location – i.e. I will both research and write at Copenhagen Airport," said Skovmand. Skovmand is excited to see what it will be like to write his book among so many people who will be able to read his manuscript on a large display while he is writing it. “In many ways it’s an experiment, but it’s also an exciting challenge I’m presenting

myself with. And it is different from the normal perception of an author sitting all alone in an attic working on his book for years. At the airport, I will be sitting among my potential readers and I will be writing the book in the actual environment where the story takes place. And I will have a chance to talk with people who can contribute ideas or have an opinion on what I’m writing.

Skovmand has previously written two thrillers, Skyerne over Vesterbro (Clouds over Vesterbro) and Hvad skete der den nat? (What happened that night?), and, as mentioned, his next novel will take place at Copenhagen Airport.

“I picked that location because many people can relate to Copenhagen Airport and to airports in general. There are always a lot of people – also all the many people who work there – to whom airports are very special places. An airport is like a small town: it is interesting to explore and to be in. Somehow an airport is also a gate, or a gateway between different countries, different lives and different cultures. A gateway to something new, an opportunity to get away, a way to explore a dream or to take a break from something. All of which brings up a lot of feelings, maybe even drama, if things don’t go as expected. I think that’s an exciting and interesting subject for a book,” said Skovmand, who does not want to reveal too much about the plot just yet.

“The book will be a thriller with lots of action and excitement, and the action will take my readers to many parts of the airport – both places they know and places they don’t know.”

Skovmand will be writing his book at the airport in two rounds, his first time is for two weeks starting on 24 March 2011. He will be in the transit area, in the WHSmith near the entrance to Pier B in Terminal 2.