Charlotte Strandgaard was born in Brørup as the daughter of the critic and Doctor of Philosophy Jens Krusse and the translator Annabeth Kruuse. She passed the upper secondary school leaving examination in 1960 and from 1963 to 1968 was employed as a library assistant at the Danish Royal Library.
She made her debut in 1965 with plain, minimalistic poems in the collection Katalog. From the outset of her writing, she focused on social and topical problems, such as in her books of reports Herinde, 1969, and Gade op og gade ned, 1973, alternating between interview and writer’s comments in her accounts of drug addicts and female alcoholics. Her debut novel Når vi alle bliver mødre, 1981, about the relationship between motherhood and guilt, was followed by Lille menneske (N), 1982, about anorexia, and En fugl foruden vinger (N), 1985, about surrogate mothers. Giv mig solen (N), 1986, and Og alt hans væsen (N), 1988, explore a complicated female and family psychology with mythical overtones. Her prolific writing also includes children’s fiction.
In 1996 she published in collaboration with the radio producer Finn Slumstrup a controversial documentary book about her father, I lyset af glæde. En bog om Jens Kruuse and in the same year the controversial book Gråhårede børn about care of dementia patients, written together with the writer and dramatic critic Lis Vibeke Kristensen.
Additions by the editorial team 2011:
The above biography was first published in 1998. Since then, Charlotte Strandgaard has published a number of works, including the novels Gode hensigter, 1998, Uden hjem, 2001, and Pandoras æske, 2007.
