Sofie Hagen prepares book about fatness

Friday 2nd March 2018, 4:36pm

Sofie Hagen is writing a book about being fat
FAT promises to "bust dangerous societal misconceptions about what constitutes a 'good' body"
The Danish stand-up's debut will be published in Spring 2019

Sofie Hagen has announced that she is writing a book about fatness.

The award-winning Danish stand-up comedian has been signed up by 4th Estate to write FAT, an "intelligent, funny, provocative response to body shaming".

Her debut book, it promises to call-out those endorsing weight loss, as a "celebration of the fat body, and an agenda-setting call to arms to eradicate fat phobia", and "bust dangerous societal misconceptions about what constitutes a 'good' body and demand a redefinition of our current standards of beauty".

According to industry publication The Bookseller, the book will see Sofie share her experiences as part of the fat positivity movement, speak with fat liberation champions, describe how she ended a negative relationship with her own body and provide practical tips for readers to do the same.

Hagen says: "I was eight years old the first time it was decided that I should go on a diet, launching almost twenty years of self-loathing, eating disorders and depression. I have gone from someone struggling with being chubby to someone proud of being fat, and from feeling sad because of how my body looks to feeling furious that there are people who judge me because of how my body looks.

"I am so incredibly honoured that 4th Estate is willing to give me this chance, because I genuinely believe that if I had read this book when I was a teenager, I would have had a much better life from much earlier on, so that is what I am doing: I am writing this book for my teenage self."

Sarah Thickett, assistant editor at the publisher, adds: "I've been a huge admirer of Sofie's for a long time: her work as a comedian and podcaster is so original and intelligent, never afraid to shy away from complex issues, but also devastatingly funny and feminist. FAT will examine the overwhelmingly toxic consequences of body shaming, but also how to find self-acceptance outside of the ideals it promotes.

"I'm delighted that readers will now have a chance to enjoy Sofie's incredibly frank, funny and courageous debut, which introduces such an important new voice into this timely and urgent debate."

FAT will be published in Spring 2019.

Sofie Hagen - Happy Fat

A searing and impassioned debut from comedian Sofie Hagen - who urges us to fight back and reframe our toxic relationships with our bodies.

Sofie Hagen has always been fat. But after years of struggling with her body image and subjecting herself to countless diets, Sofie began to question the incessant body shaming and internalised fatphobia that she had always taken for granted. She started to worry less about fad diets and impossible beauty ideals and began to challenge the origins of these superficial aspirations.

Happy Fat is a response to this exploration: part-memoir, part-social commentary, Sofie describes how she conquered a negative relationship with her body and provides practical tips for readers to do the same - drawing wisdom from fat liberation champions along the way.

Covering topics from shame and sex to airplane seats, love and getting stuck in public toilets, Happy Fat shows us how taking up space in a culture that is desperate to reduce you can be radical and emboldening.

Happy Fat is a celebration of the fat body: an agenda-setting call to arms to re-evaluate our current beauty standards and how we define our self-worth.

First published: Thursday 2nd May 2019

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