Mette Kappel

1953 -

Denmark

Mette Kappel was born in Sønderborg and trained as a singer at a music conservatory. Her debut poetry collection Rum was published in 1983, which in simple and elementary language describes the search and transgression of boundaries of the “I” and the “we”. The poetic space is a contrast to geometric and scientific space: in poetry, parallel lines can cross over, and the past, the present, and the future can come together in a fleeting and explosive moment. Cyklus, 1984, continues the theme of love, but with a more cosmically searching and delicate voice. Her collection Vox, 1986, concludes the poetic sequence from the two first collections, and her preoccupation with the elementary shapes itself into a realisation that the “I” originates in both the light and the dark. Every living thing is tied up with death and is recurring.

Mette Kappel’s poetry is a continuation of the visionary and language-conscious poetry of the 1980s. She has also worked with forms of prose and has published the stories Paradis, 1985, in which an adult’s and a child’s narrative perspective meet each other. She has also published the children’s books Sille og hendes blå undulat, 1986, Bom og Lille Grøn, 1987, and Du er sej Karoline, 1997.

Additions by the editorial team 2011:

The above biography was first published in 1998. Since then, Mette Kappel has written the poetry collection Det levende, 2009, and a number of children’s books.