Solvej Balle & Chris Power: On the Calculation of Volume

‘Every morning, she wakes up to the 18th of November. She no longer expects to wake up to the 19th of November, and she no longer remembers the 17th of November as if it were yesterday.’

Solvej Balle’s septology On the Calculation of Volume (Faber), thirty years in the making, was published in Danish by the author’s own press to huge and universal acclaim: ‘Absolutely, absolutely incredible’ (Karl Ove Knausgaard); ‘Unforgettable’ (Hernan Díaz); ‘A total explosion’ (Nicole Krauss). Now Faber has brought the first two volumes of her masterpiece to an anglophone readership in a vibrant translation by Barbara J. Haveland, the first of which was shortlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize.

Balle was in conversation with novelist and critic Chris Power.