ANABEL HAFSTAD
I'm a life-long writer accidentally turned search engine optimization specialist, born and raised in Switzerland — now calling Oslo my home. I consider search engines my job and writing my work.
With degrees in English Literature from Zürich, and North American Studies from Berlin, I find deep inspiration in the lives and texts of female literary giants like Woolf, the Brontë sisters, Dickinson, Oliver, and Atwood. But I also love Whitman and Emerson, Thoreau, cummings, Rilke and Roethke, Bert Meyers, you name it.
My writing tends to intertwine a love for literary classics and poetry with profound reflections on human existence, empathy towards future generations, and the evolving state of our planet.
As a highly conceptual writer, I find myself delving into the question of how various narrative modes — from stream of consciousness to non-linear storytelling — influences the power and effectiveness of a story and its message profoundly.
Having written from the moment I could hold a pen, I look brightly at a writer's life ahead of me, ever inspired by the world around me and the layers of beauty that have yet to be created and unveiled.
THE TRINITY OF LIFE
My working life is divided into three segments: I write daily and help my SEO-clients optimize their websites — and every once in a while I labor away at a passion project with my small press, newways.
Writer
I have always written and will always write. The pen is my tool to process life and send secret letters to the big wide world.
Mini-Publisher
I periodically self-publish non-fiction projects with my own small press, newways, founded in 2020.
SEO Specialist
I am a self-employed search engine optimization advisor working with my own brand, SmåSeo
TIMELINE OF WORKS + PUBLICATIONS
→ 2024
2023
2023
2022
2022
2021
2020
2018
2017
2017
2015
2015
2014
2012-2017
2012
1994-2007
1993
Beginning work on second novel, EPHEMERAL (prequel to OFFGRID)
Final manuscript of first novel, OFFGRID, complete at 142'000 words, agent / publisher wanted
Release of Ebeneza Scrooge — and Other Gender-Swapped Christmas Stories, Charles Dickens et al., #charactHer series, newways
Release of Countess Dracula, Bram Stoker et al., #charactHer series, newways
Co-Publication of poetry collection Monotone Times with photographer Laura Signer, Turbo Press
Release of On Having a Body — A Diary, Anabel Hafstad, newways
Founding of newways
Beginning work on first novel, OFFGRID
Return to non-digital content format: poetry, books and novels
Guest article "I Live Without a Smartphone. This is Why," Ireland's Technology Blog**
Guest articles on mindfulness for everyday-mindfulness.org
MA in North American Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
Guest articles on life in Berlin for iheartbelin.de (scroll down)
Travel blog Frau Belli in Berlin, anabel.ch
BA in English Literature and Linguistics, Universität Zürich
Composing a hair-raising body of (pre-)teen poetry and short stories. We've all got them.
Forcing my siblings to teach me the alphabet
** I have since returned to life with a smartphone ;)
THINGS I NERD OUT ABOUT
Ask me a simple question about these topics and risk that I'll never shut up.
You're likely to see traces of these obsessions in my creative work.
Evolution + Paleontology
Trees + Lichens + Fungi
Women's Societal Roles
Throughout History
The Lives of Authors of Famous Classics
AI + Algorithms
Sausage Dogs
Image created with AI Image Creator, Open AI
SOURCES OF INSPIRATION
01
Books
All the books. In the whole wide world. I've been told that I'm an eclectic reader, but personally I find that I tend to focus on classics, literary fiction, and poetry. For non-fiction I gravitate towards natural sciences and memoirs.
02
On Being with Krista Tippett
There are so many wonderful podcasts, but "On Being" continues to have an impact on my personal perspectives.
03
The Marginalian
If you only subscribe to a single newsletter (that will actually have an impact on your understanding of the world), it's Maria Popova's from The Marginalian.
WHY I USE AI-GENERATED IMAGES
Because they're unsettling.
Because they're inevitable.
Because they're really kind of amazing.
And because, as a search engine optimization specialist, I harbor a keen interest in algorithms, emerging technologies, and questions of information security.
Image created with AI Image Creator, Open AI