Published in 1981, ‘Om fjorten dage’ (In Fourteen Days) is a short story collection by Danish author Peter Seeberg that won the ‘Nordic Council Literature Prize’ in 1983. Born in the small village of Skydstrup (southern Jutland), Seeberg’s home was imbued with a harsh and guilt-ridden pietistic religiousness. He graduated in literary history, but later shifted to archaeology and coupled his writing with work at the regional museum of Viborg. In fiction, he mainly wrote novels and short stories, but he also worked as a playwright. ‘Om fjorten dage’ is a collection of short stories written in a ‘low-key language’ with simple, concrete expressions and a mild sense of humour speckled with understatements. In his view of life, Peter Seeberg was close to absurdism and existentialism, but he categorically denied any type of transcendence: “To maintain a life in the mortal context, in intimate settings, is the only worthwhile thing to do. You can call that my credo.” According to the Adjudicating Committee, in his prose work ‘Om fjorten dage’ Peter Seeberg has given quiet human lives a mystic dimension, with precision and mastery and through a game with many time perspectives.
