Pernille Tønnesen was born in Copenhagen, made her debut in 1974 with the novel Vineta – byen fra havet, an experimental, fantasy-like novel about community, revolution, young dreams, and naivety. The novel also criticises the wealth of political slogans and overconfident, ideological analyses that were prevalent at that time. Her novel Esther – en rejsebog was published in 1979. It takes the shape of a more realist epistolary and travel novel depicting a young woman and her brother and their experience of art and love.
1994 saw the publication of her novel Tilnærmelser, which has a lesbian motif and describes two women meeting, falling in love, and sharing their lives with friends and old partners. All the characters find themselves in the middle of their lives with new plans and ideas to fulfil. Together with Marianne Larsen, Pernille Tønnesen published the joint poetry collections Lysende Kaos, 1990, and Via Media, 1993.
Additions by the editorial team 2011:
The above biography was first published in 1998. Since then, Pernille Tønnesen has published the novel Dagenes rusken, 2002.