For the first time available in English, a selection of some of Inger ChristensenтАЩs most insightful essays and poetic prose pieces The Condition of Secrecy is a poignant collection of essays by Inger Christensen, widely regarded as one of the most influential Scandinavian writers of the twentieth century. As The New York Times proclaimed, тАЬDespite the rigorous structure that undergirds her workтАФor more likely, because of itтАФMs. ChristensenтАЩs style is lyrical, even playful.тАЭ The same could be said of ChristensenтАЩs essays. Here, she formulates with increasing clarity the basis of her approach to writing, and provides insights into how she composed specific poetry volumes. Some essays are autobiographical (with memories of ChristensenтАЩs school years during the Nazi occupation of Denmark), and others are political, touching on the Cold War and Chernobyl. The Condition of Secrecy┬аalso covers the Ars Poetica of Lu Chi (261-303 CE); William Blake and Isaac Newton; and such topics as randomness as a universal force and the role of the writer as an agent of social change. The Condition of Secrecy confirms that Inger Christensen is тАЬa true singer of the syllablesтАЭ (C. D. Wright), and тАЬa formalist who makes her own rules, then turns the game around with another ruleтАЭ (Eliot Weinberger).