The International Library Presents Olga Ravn on The Wax Child

Olga Ravn, the acclaimed author of Booker Prize finalist The Employees and My Work, introduces her haunting new novel, The Wax Child, translated by Martin Aitken.

Set amid the witchcraft trials of seventeenth-century Denmark, The Wax Child follows Christenze Kruckow, an unmarried noblewoman accused of sorcery, and the women who share her fate. Their alleged crimes—stealing happiness, consorting with a headless Devil, and wielding un-Christian powers—place them in peril of the stake. Narrated by a wax doll crafted by Christenze herself, The Wax Child is a chilling meditation on fear, power, and the brutal mechanisms that govern communities.

Drawing from court records, spells, letters, and Scandinavian grimoires, Ravn blends meticulous research with genre-bending experimentation, building a collage-like narrative that is as unsettling as it is mesmerizing. Join her for a conversation about The Wax Child, its source material, and the enduring allure of stories that illuminate the darkest corners of our past and present.

This is a hybrid event. Olga Ravn will appear in person at the The Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, NY (7:00 pm ET). A live remote viewing will be held at Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco (4:00 pm PT). You can also livestream this event worldwide. Registration(opens in a new tab)(opens in a new tab) is required to attend in person in Brooklyn and for online access to the livestream. To attend the live remote viewing at Center for the Art of Translation in San Francisco, please RSVP to events@catranslation.org.

In seventeenth-century Denmark, Christenze Kruckow, an unmarried noblewoman, is accused of witchcraft. She and several other women are rumored to be possessed by the Devil, who has come to them in the form of a tall headless man who gives them dark powers: they can steal people’s happiness, they have performed unchristian acts, and they can cause pestilence or death. They are all in danger of the stake.

The Wax Child, narrated by a wax doll created by Christenze Kruckow, is an unsettling horror story about brutality and power, nature and witchcraft, set in the fragile communities of premodern Europe.

Deeply researched and steeped in visceral, atmospheric detail, The Wax Child is based on a series of real witchcraft trials that took place in Northern Jutland in the seventeenth century. Full of lush storytelling and alarmingly rich imagination, Olga Ravn also weaves in quotes from original sources such as letters, magical spells and manuals, court documents, and Scandinavian grimoires.

This event is part of The International Library, a collaboration between The Center for Fiction and the Center for the Art of Translation. Join us for a series of conversations across time, place, language, and culture, with live audiences in San Francisco and Brooklyn—and more locations to come. This series will guide readers to think critically about how stories are told and explore the inspiration, philosophy, and craft of international storytellers.