IsaacMacaulay

Literature is what I read, language is what I teach, and media is what I make.

EducationI am Isaac S. Macaulay, an editor, podcast host and Danish teacher based in Copenhagen. I hold a master's degree (Cand.mag.) in Comparative Literature from the University of Copenhagen (2026). My thesis on Theis Ørntoft's poetry, supervised by Professor Frederik Tygstrup, asks who acts, and who answers, when the climate is the story itself.

TraditionI prefer to read the old texts: Homer, Virgil, Dante and Plato. Rhetoric interests me as much as literature, because the two are closely connected. At university I took the elective Rhetorical Tradition and kept returning to Plato's Phaedrus, where Plato shows himself neither as philosopher nor as rhetorician but as poet.

PracticeFor four years I have worked in media. I founded and edited DMFIS, a magazine for international students in Denmark, supported by Tuborgfondet and KU's Studiemiljøpulje, and I started and host Mellem Linierne, a literature podcast recorded in Gyldendal's studio. Guests include Søren Sveistrup, the BAFTA-winning creator of The Killing and The Chestnut Man; Ann Lind Andersen, film critic and founder of What2Watch; and Elisa Lykke, author and literary agent. I have worked on the editorial team at DR P1, consulted for Hi-Fi Forum and volunteer with the British-Danish Chamber of Commerce (BCCD). My writing has appeared in Weekendavisen and Information.

TeachingI have taught Danish for six years. My students come from Iran, Ukraine, Russia, the United States, Poland, the Czech Republic, England and Belgium, among others. Many are diplomats, company directors and other experienced professionals who use Danish in their work. I have also taught Ukrainians and helped them obtain Danish residence permits. I write practice tests for the PD2 and PD3 exams and run the YouTube channel Learn Danish with Isaac.

MusicI also teach piano. My favourite composer is Beethoven. The first movement of his Fifth Symphony is built almost entirely on one four-note motif, which he keeps using until it fills the whole movement. Chopin comes a close second. In my late teens I was also a rapper and producer as Ice Ach: I founded the creative collective Soul Surf Society, released the debut project Pink Lady in December 2016, was named one of ten new Danish rappers to watch by Soundvenue in 2017 and was announced for For Evigt Hip Hop in 2018. In 2022 I returned to it as a volunteer instructor at Street Mekka, teaching young people to write and rap.

FamilyLanguage and books have always been a big part of my family. My grandfather, the Scottish sociolinguist Ronald Macaulay, researched language and social class. He built the linguistics programme at Pitzer College in California and served as Dean of Faculty. His books include Locating Dialect in Discourse and The Social Art. My father, Harvey Macaulay, an American, is a book cover designer whose work includes covers for Danish editions of C.S. Lewis, Elsie Silver and Ana Huang. My mother, Domenic Macaulay, teaches English, Danish and philosophy at upper-secondary level (gymnasium). Through my father I have followed American politics since I was a child.