By the Sea

Marathon reading of Peter Seeberg's novel By the Sea
Destination: Rømø, Fanø and Blåvands Huk.

 


Foto: Seconded by Jeppe Brixvold

 

A marathon reading of Peter Seeberg's novel "By the Sea" - a day from 12 to 24 pm.

Danish writers, politicians, poets and actors and others are talkers. Musicians give during the day short spots and participating in reading. In modern day contemporary music, later more rhythmic electronic music, so maybe the day ends with a feast. The novel is chosen because it is a collection of everyday scenes, family outings, teenagekærestepar a summer day at sea, retired at the beach, etc.

                           The beach has always been there. It is before all
                       and will stay after all. It is the first and the last. But        
                        before and after it is the sea. 
                                                                                      Peter Seeberg, By the Sea    


Overall, the project must speak to people of all ages but turned against that thought specifically on the young audience.
The project is expected documented in a video / film shooting. Focus kept on the artistic idea: to frame our encounter with the sea.
Idea: Jeppe Brixvold, Author, lecturer at the Writers' School in Copenhagen and Authors Foundation Course in Esbjerg Culture School.
Arr: The Wadden Sea Festival and Jeppe Brixvold.

This reading is partly a celebration of one of Denmark’s greatest prose writers, partly a kind of geo poetry, connecting words and the world in an unusual way. The last is also a kind of celebration, but of what? By the Sea is Peter Seeberg’s fourth and last novel, published at Arena in 1978. The book is about a migration to the sea on a summerly Sunday in the late 1970s. About 100.000 people visit the beach on Rømø that day, from fresh parents with a baby in a hot car, to the retirement home in a bus. It is a brilliant and often ignored book when talking about Seeberg’s work. Hans Otto Jørgensen thinks that it is Seeberg’s best book ever.  The novel follows 35 characters through a network of small scenes. It’s strength is the precise, immersed portraits, but it is also lyric, glimmering of sun and the sea.  

To catch some of the ambiguity of By the Sea, the Wadden Sea Festival is hosting three readings of the novel on three different locations by the sea on the 4th of September. This particular day was chosen, since the tide differences on the 4th of September make it possible to show low and high tide as described in the novel (see Appendix). The three readings will not only literally follow the book, but will also connect the book to the sea, it is about. By the Sea is read at Lakolk on Rømø, where Seeberg himself had a cottage and was a guest for many years; on the beach of Sønderho on Fanø and at the lighthouse in Blåvandshuk, the northern boundary of the Wadden Sea and the western point of Denmark. Start at 12.00 midday on all three locations.

It is unique to be able to listen to the reading of the complete novel. However, we do hope that the listeners will go for a walk on the beach, visit the cafes and stay for the party in the evening – take part in the celebration and enjoy the atmosphere. The clear, masterly prose of the novel and its composition with many small, independent scenes, makes it possible to come and go and still profit from the novel.  By the Sea is reprinted by Gyldendal for the occasion and is sold on all three locations. Readers, musicians, staff and volunteers will receive a copy, as soon as the new version is printed mid August.

The three reading stages will have the course of the novel in common, but will interpret the text differently:

At Lakolk on Rømø, the stage will be in a tent directly on the beach. A direct and ongoing reading, where about 20 readers will rotate. The reading is concluded with a musical contribution at around 11.00 pm, when the tide is at its highest. 

On the beach of Sønderho on Fanø it will be more experimental. In an old beach hotel, writers and poets will read and perform the novel from a fragmentary aesthetic point of view. Music will also be part of it.

At the lighthouse in Blåvandshuk, there is no normal stage, but more of a landscape and sound performance. Parts of the book are played via speakers, placed in the landscape, and other parts are transmitted live from readers on top of the lighthouse. The light will be on and back to normal use when the lights are on, where after the reading continues in a café tent on the parking lot by the lighthouse. 

The Wadden Sea Festival 2010 is a cooperation between the municipalities of Esbjerg, Fanø, Tønder and Varde. The novel reading "By the Sea" is funded by the Department of Culture and the Culture Agreement Wadden Sea. Responsible for the idea is the writer Jeppe Brixvold. Information and daily program for the three reading locations will be updated on www.vadehavsfestival.dk and on the Facebook group "By the Sea".

 

The project is supported by Toosbuys Fond