What We're Reading... Emma Holten
We asked Emma Holten what she has read most recently, what she is currently reading, and what she plans to read next.
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- What We're Reading... Emma Holten
Emma Holten
Emma Holten is a feminist activist, public commentator and speaker. In 2014, she created the internationally recognised project Consent, addressing digital sexual violence and bodily autonomy. Today, she is a central voice in public debate and is currently available with Deficit: On the Value of Care.
What was the last thing you read?
All Fours by Miranda July. I know it has sparked intense debate, especially in the US, but I really liked it! The protagonists in July’s books are always so self‑absorbed that you read them in a state of near‑constant second‑hand embarrassment — but it’s also strangely wonderful to be confronted with that side of humanity, the part that is so unpleasant in oneself as well. At the same time, the book grapples with ageing as a woman, and I think it does so extremely well. Is it a freedom — or a loss — no longer to be sexualised?
What are you reading now?
Well — Sally Rooney! We’re exactly the same age, and hers is probably one of the first bodies of work I’ve truly “grown up” with. Because of that, I have a strange relationship to her books: I judge them neither as harshly nor as enthusiastically as works that feel more like a surprise to me. Her books are part of the furniture of my life — they arrive, and I simply weave them into my own thoughts and experiences.
What will you read next — and how do you choose?
I love recommendations! Right now, all my reading friends are talking about Down from Heaven by Liv Duvå, and I’m so excited to read it so I can join the conversation. And there will definitely also be time for 700 pages of Jonas Eika’s nuns!