Square Stories

by Lauren C. Nielsen

During my sophomore year of college, I took an Introduction to Creative Writing course with Professor Lise Kildegaard. I had no idea what I would discover that day as we began the course’s fiction unit. Professor Kildegaard began the unit by introducing us to short-short stories, with one particular style highlighted above all others—square stories.

The Discovery

“A square story? What’s that?” I thought. But as soon as the word “Danish” came out of our professor’s mouth, my ears perked up and I was immediately intrigued. Square stories, I came to learn, were invented by a Danish author named Louis Jensen. While in that class, I looked down at my handout to see several stories typed out on the page. Two of those stories were very short and very squareshaped! I read one, then the other, and I fell in love. These minuscule stories sparked vibrant images in my mind, and yet they were constructed with so few words. We were given an assignment for the next class—write two of your own square stories. I never knew then that square stories would take me on such an adventure. By nature, square stories are not just any short story. And they’re not micro-fiction either. And while they are often lyrical and poetic, they are not just poetry either. Square stories are a little of each of these things. They are very very short. Some can be only a few words, some a bit longer. Louis Jensen’s square stories typically contain fewer than one hundred words. And while they are very, very short, they do tell stories. Each story includes a plot, characters, and oftentimes a role reversal. They cross boundaries while, at the same time, staying inside of them. Square stories also cannot be categorized into one genre. Instead, they consist of overlapping genres. Jensen’s stories contain elements of children’s literature; fantasy and fairytales; surrealism, magic realism and absurdism; fables; and jokes or humor. In an interview, Jensen once said that if he were to express a wish, “it would be for more space for the weird, the strange, the unpredictable, the extremely sad and the extremely humorous…all that kind of literature where the text shows itself in another way than we are used to—.” Each of those elements listed are incorporated into his own square stories. This is where I started when I began that writing assignment. I looked at the world and how it is filled with the weird and the strange and then I began writing and started there—right were the weird, the strange and the unpredictable all came together.

The Author

Louis Jensen was born in Nibe, Denmark on July 19, 1943. In 1970, he published his first poem and then his first book of poetry followed in 1972. Jensen also wrote novels, the first, Krystalmanden, being published in 1986. He published his first volume of 100 square stories in 1992, thus starting his “Square Story Project”. For this project, he set himself a goal of writing 1,001 stories and so he did. Each volume written contained 100 stories, and in 2016, he published his tenth volume of 100 and his eleventh volume containing one single, final story. Each story began with a number. The first began with “Engang der var…” or “Once there was”. As the stories go on, they are numbered with “a second time, a third time” and so on. The stories, while written for children, can be enjoyed by any age group. Each of Jensen’s books is illustrated by Lillian Brøgger, a prize-winning Danish Illustrator. Many of the fantastical, surreal or absurd elements were present in Jensen’s square stories because of the influence that other authors had on him. One of these authors included the great Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen. Sadly, in March 2021, Louis Jensen unexpectedly died of a heart attack while bicycling with friends.

The Adventure

Now, earlier I mentioned that square stories took me on an adventure. Well, here it is. Professor Lise Kildegaard wasn’t just a fan of square stories. She’s also the sole translator of Jensen’s square stories. Two years after I learned of square stories in my creative writing class, I was a Senior in college deciding on what Senior Project I wanted to complete. As an English Writing major, I had the opportunity to complete a writing project. Being completely enchanted by square stories at this point, I decided to write my own. And I didn’t just write a few—I decided that I would have my very own “Square Story Project”, just like Louis Jensen. So, for my first set of stories, I landed on the number 90. Why 90? Well, a square has four corners, each corner has 90 degrees. So I decided that my project would be set up in four parts, each containing 90 stories. Eventually I planned, and still am working toward, the goal of writing 360 square stories. I still keep in touch with Lise Kildegaard, and every now and then, she shares new translations of Jensen’s square stories. She also continues to promote and share square stories through articles and interviews. You may have even heard of these square stories at the Museum of Danish America in 2021 where they featured an outdoor exhibit of Jensen’s square stories. Each time I hear about a new article, interview or presentation about Jensen’s square stories, I of course hop right to it and voraciously take it in. I continue to learn so much about these fun, quirky and unique little stories. I hope that by sharing my story and my passion with all of you that you all will take a moment to experience these little stories yourself. After all, they are meant to be experienced. I’ll leave you with the first square story I wrote way back in that creative writing classroom.

A tall, majestic castle popped up from the book. Alongside the castle was a pop-up princess with her pop-up prince and their pop-up royal court. They ruled the pop-up kingdom with their pop-up proclamations. And beside the book was an orange orange.