Tommy Heisz is a journalist and nonfiction writer, based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
In recent years, he has established himself as a popular author of dramatic nonfiction. Compelling narratives based on thorough research and vivid storytelling has become his trademark.
The latest books by Tommy Heisz have received wide acclaim in Denmark.
In Den spanske syge (Politikens Forlag, 2018) Heisz rolled out the dramatic events that took place in Denmark when a lethal influenza pandemic swept the world in 1918 and became one of the worst outbreaks in human history. Through eyewitness accounts, this captivating narrative shows the impact of the pandemic: patients battled the disease in overfilled hospitals, coffins were stacked in chapels, and fear and caution reigned in trams and theatres. The book also tells the stories of brave nurses, doctors, and volunteers who played important roles during the pandemic that claimed roughly 15,000 lives in Denmark.
His latest book Blod under halvmånen (Lindhardt og Ringhof, 2022) is a dramatic account of the overlooked prelude to the First World War. In history books, the narrative of modern European war history usually begins in 1914 with the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo. But in the southeastern corner of Europe, the war was underway long before that. In the Balkans, nationalist currents and a desire to drive the Ottomans out of Europe led to fierce battles, outrageous attacks on civilians, and huge refugee streams.
These battles and the border drawings that followed affected later European events – not only the two world wars but also regional conflicts right up to the present day. In Blod under halvmånen, Danish, British, Swedish, and Norwegian eyewitness accounts from 1912-13 drive the dramatic narrative. The reader travels with doctors, Red Cross nurses, correspondents, and photographers to the Balkans.
“When I started working on the book, my ambition was to shed light on a historical event that seemed kind of forgotten even though it has had a huge impact on modern European history,” Heisz explains. - “In the archives, I searched for human voices, because in my opinion, this is what makes us care about history: people, flesh and blood, humans like you and me.”
Besides writing, Tommy Heisz also teaches. Since 2016, he has been an external lecturer at DIS, teaching travel writing and nonfiction writing to American students studying abroad in Copenhagen. DIS offers high-impact learning experiences for upper-division undergraduate students from North American colleges and universities. The intellectually challenging curriculum is broad, cutting-edge, and enriched by experiential learning components. In 2019, Heisz was invited through DIS to do a guest lecture on nonfiction writing at the University of Minnesota.
The Danish history podcast Vild Historie is hosted by Tommy Heisz alongside his colleague Simon Kratholm Ankjærgaard, who is also a well-acclaimed writer of nonfiction books. The two hosts invite historians, authors, and other guests to shed light on forgotten or overlooked historical events. Since 2019, more than 60 episodes of the podcast have been released.
In previous books, Tommy Heisz has explored the story of the famous Swimming Girls of the 1930s, Denmark’s first real sports stars. He also wrote about English football in a cultural-historical context seen from a Scandinavian perspective.
Contact: tommyheisz@gmail.com