Portrait - Iben Mondrup

IBEN Mondrup

The story of Tabita and Vitus is first and foremost written for a Danish audience, and it is relevant because I experience that many Danes do not know much of the history that Greenland and Denmark have in common.

I myself was very shocked when I found out how extensive and unregulated these adoptions were.

Therefore, it was also important for me to tell the story based on the two siblings, because I experience that readers can better relate to the situation and the consequences that come with it.

I do not think that I have helped to start the debate about the relationship between Greenland and Denmark, because it has been written about for several years before Tabita was published.

Rather, my narrative is part of a larger movement, a flow that has gradually taken hold. When the time is right, many of these stories will appear, both in fiction and non-fiction.

And it can be said that it has been right around where Tabita came out, because at about the same time a journalist at Dagbladet Information was working on a series of articles with testimonies from Greenlanders who had been adopted to Denmark. And it was completely independent of my own project, and without each of us knowing anything about each other's work.

I think most writers write based on something they find important. And as I grew up in Greenland in the 70s and 80s, I am part of the colony's children, even though I was born to Danish parents. When you grow up in a society where ideologues are at odds, you are forced to relate very concretely to yourself and your surroundings, and that leaves its mark.

And those traces mean that to this day I am still very interested in what has happened between Greenland and Denmark, in particular what Denmark's role has been and what actions have been taken against the Greenlanders.

I miss living in Greenland a lot, but I also acknowledge that there are many things going on in Greenland that I am not a part of, in the same way. And I feel like there are a lot of currents that I would not be able to contribute to.

Then I have better conditions for making a difference on, for example, the topic of adoptions when I live in Denmark instead.

I am very much looking forward to going home to Nuuk again.

Iben Mondrup, 52, is the author of several books that take place in Greenland.

She herself grew up in Greenland, where she lived from the age of 3 until she was 18.

Iben is visiting Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival 2021, where she will talk about her book, "Tabita" in Greenland's National Library.

The sequel "Vitus" is expected to be released in January 2022.

The portrait was written by Maasi Brøns, intern at Napa - The Nordic Institute In Greenland