Marianne Larsen was born in Kalundborg and grew up in a family in the countryside on Røsnæs. She passed the upper secondary school leaving examination in 1970 and studied literature and Chinese at the University of Copenhagen from 1970 to 1975.
In 1971, she made her debut with Koncentrationer, a collection of poems and prose, which was followed in subsequent years by numerous poetry collections and contributions to collective publications and writing projects. Her simple poems combine a critical linguistic awareness with political and gender-political commitment, and they stand out from many other collections of Danish chopped-up prose of the period as being of a very high literary quality. Her main poetic works, which are numerous, include Det må siges enkelt, 1976, Hinandens kræfter, 1980, and the fine selection of earlier writing put together by fellow poet Asger Schnack, Udvalgte digte, 1982. In 1989, she published her debut novel Gæt hvem der elsker dig about a girl growing up in a small community in the provinces, which was followed by Fremmed lykke, 1990, and Galleri Virkeligheden, 1992, which relates the story of a girl’s teenage and adult life in the 1970s and 1980s.
Marianne Larsen has collaborated several times with theatre groups on drama and cabaret productions. In 1993, she published Via Media, a text dialogue with Pernille Tønnesen, and in 1994 the poetry collection Skyggekalender. In 1995 she published Chance for at danse. Sladderhistorier om at blive svimmel (P), in 1996 I en venten hvid som sne (N), and in 1998 Lille dansk sindsjournal (P), which plays on the eternal grind of the media in the 1990s on the Danes and Danishness.
Additions by the editorial team 2011:
The above biography was first published in 1998. Since then, Marianne Larsen has written the poetry collections Drømmerens børn: fata morgana for hjemmevideo, 2000, Portrættegneren der ville være på højde med det uafklarede, 2000, Memorabilia, 2001, Tilskuerens øjeblik, 2003, Par i disede haver, 2004, Stjerne for en frafalden, 2006, Særskilte stillinger, 2008, Hvis en morgen en hittevoksen, 2010, and Sig mig et underjordisk træ med vindens udtale: Et blues-digt, 2011.
Additionally, she has written the novel Den forelskede unge, 2007, as well as books for children and young adults, and a book of conversations with author Finn Barlby, Simsalabim: skrivelser for tiden, 2006.
