Inger Ash Wolfe Responds

Last week I wrote about how crime novelist Inger Wolfe's pseudonym bore an uncanny resemblance to Danish crime writer Inger Wolf's real name. The pseudonymous author, who has altered this appellation slightly to include a middle name, sent in a lengthy response and clarification by email a few days ago. An edited portion appears below:

I am writing to you now in order to set the record straight concerning the name Inger Ash Wolfe. I was alerted to one of the entries on your blog which contained your suggestions about why I chose to write under this particular pseudonym, and I would like to explain how that name was chosen and to clear up any misconceptions about the circumstances concerning that choice.

I initially named myself "Inger Wolfe" to honor the memory of a relation of mine who was a fan of mysteries (the name is based on her name, but is not identical to it) and at the time I began writing The Calling, in the early fall of 2005, I did a search on the name and came up with nothing. (If you put "Inger Wolfe"—with the 'e'—into Google, no references to the Danish Inger Wolf, prior to the ones in your blog, come up at all). Later in the fall of 2005, I checked for similar names and different spellings just to be sure: Inger, Ingrid and Ingmar Woolf, Woolfe, and Wolf. And that's when I found the Danish Inger Wolf. When I discovered her, she had published one book in Danish—a literary novel entitled Sidespring—which had appeared in 2000. At that time, I consulted with my agent (The Calling was not finished yet and had not been sold), and we agreed that the work I was doing was significantly different from the work of the Danish author named Inger Wolf, as it was written in a different genre, as well as in a different language; it was not available, five years after its publication, in any other language than Danish, and also it seemed that this author might no longer be active as a published writer: nothing else had come out since her debut. As a result I continued with my plan to use the name with its spelling different from hers.

Two years later, in December of 2007 (after the advanced reading copies had gone out and the jackets for The Calling had been printed in three countries—they have since been reprinted), we discovered that Inger Wolf had published crime fiction. I consulted with my publishers in Canada, the US and the UK, feeling that we owed it to both her and to myself to further differentiate the name, and we added a middle name which I and my publishers will always use. As a result of this, my books are published under the name Inger Ash Wolfe. I would be grateful, if you write about me in your blog (or anywhere else), that you use the name I am being published under and no other. Your statement that the middle name "Ash" is being used "on some dust jackets" is incorrect: all publishers throughout the world are using the full name—Inger Ash Wolfe—on the final dust jacket, in the book, and in all publicity materials. You may simply have encountered outdated listings or cover images on the internet that the publishers are working to have changed.

On your blog, you wrote that I "pick[ed] a deliberate pseudonym that sounds an awful lot like a writer published in some of the same countries," but I hope you understand now that my choice of a name similar to the name of this Danish author was not deliberate at all, nor is it an "appropriation". My choice of the name is a complete coincidence. Further, I was not aware that Inger Wolf had published crime fiction until a year or so after I had signed book contracts for The Calling. 

I have written to Inger Wolf to clarify these matters and to ensure she understands that any perceived similarity between our names is an accident. I trust you will correct statements made on your blog that suggest otherwise.

Consider it done. In related reading, C.E. Petit has his own take on the Wolfe/Wolf conundrum.

Comments

[Charles Ardai]

Look, we've been down this path before. Remember when Kenneth Millar started writing books as "John Macdonald" and then switched to "John Ross Macdonald" (and finally to just "Ross Macdonald") when John D. MacDonald got pissed off about the similarity?

I'd look for "Inger Ash Wolfe" to become just "Ash Wolfe" (or "I. Ash Wolfe" or "I.A. Wolfe" or some such) over the coming years -- if the writer has any success under the name, of course.

[Keith]

I'm so clearly in the minority that I'm not sure I should even ask this, but why does anyone care who's behind the pen name?

[Guyot]

I'm right there with you, Keith.

Some folks seem to have an obsession with finding this stuff out, or at least always wanting to be the person that knew first.

Silly.

[David J. Montgomery]

What cracks me up is how the guesses are usually wrong. I can't count the number of times people have told me that Gayle Lynds is writing Robert Ludlum's posthumous novels.

[Michael Feld]

The book's fun; the geography is shaky. Gimli, MB, is less than 150 km from Winnipeg, not the "1000" km you find Wolfe imagining.

[agnes dee]

I admired the sentence and word usage, and that is the only reason I'd like to know who the author really is.

[mmk]

I'm reading "The Calling" now, and I suspect "Inger Ash Wolfe" is actually Margaret Atwood, the famous Canadian novelist, and if not, then "Inger" does a good imitation of Atwood's early non-crime themed novels. Inger?

[Amar]

I'm from the UK and am halfway through the Calling and I'm loving it. It's ace and very delicious to read. Frankly, I find it entertaining that the author has chosen to use an alias but am I bothered who it is? No, I'm just glad its a very good read.

[Shelly]

The only reason I want to know the real identity of the author is to read more by her. I am listening to The Calling on cd and loving it. I understand that she will be writing more under this name, but I would read the novels she has already written under her real name in the meantime!

I would say that I don't think it's Margaret Atwood because The Calling is WAY better than The Poisonwood Bible, but that's all I've read by Atwood, so I could definitely be wrong there.

[Marg]

Hi there Shelly, I just wanted to correct you about something. Barbara Kingsolver wrote The Poisonwood Bible, not Margaret Atwood as you suggest. Atwood wrote The Handmaid's Tale, The Edible Women, Oryx and Crake, The Blind Assasin, Pay Back, etc., etc.
P.S. - It's widely believed that Russell Smith (author of How Insensitive and Noise) is Inger Ash Wolfe. I don't know if that has been proven or not. He doesn't admit to it on his website.

[Shelly]

Thanks Marg! I was corrected at the bookstore, too, when I stopped to buy The Calling, so I did get straightened out yesterday. I have read Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, but it's been a very long time.

[Carol Anne]

I wonder if Inger Ash Wolfe might be Heather Mallick? After all, the name Mallick figures prominently in "The Calling."

Great book. Hope there are more to come. I'm a 64-year-old woman and enjoyed reading about someone my age.

[Deb]

I too believe Inger Ash Wolfe to be Margaret Atwood. Margaret Atwood's mind moves 100 different ways and she never disappoints the reader. But, there are some people out there who will not read a Margaret Atwood novel and this may be a creative way of reaching a broader audience.

[Kristilotz]

Really brilliant book, pity for all the blasphemy , it was distracting. Just my view, i know it's not everyone else out there. Personally dont really care who the author is