Mikal Hem

Mikal Hem has worked as a journalist and political commentator for the Norwegian newspapers Dagbladet and Verdens Gang, as well as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and the weekly news magazine Ny Tid. He has traveled extensively around the world and spent a good deal of time in Africa and the countries of the former Soviet Union. For a period of his childhood, he lived with his family in Zimbabwe, under the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.

His first book is called "Kanskje jeg kan bli diktator" ("Perhaps I can be dictator"), and is a satirical career guide for aspiring autocrats. It was published in Norwegian in 2012, and has been translated to Danish, Tyrkish, Hungarian, German and Serbian. An English edition will be published soon.

"Egypt's President al-Sisi. One could almost believe that he had thoroughly studied Mikal Hems manual "Perhaps I can be dictator". Al-Sisi met almost all of the criteria specified by the Norwegian journalist after thorough research on how to succeed as a dictator."

- Harald Klauhs, Die Presse (Austria)

"The collection of facts and anecdotes about style, wealth and personality cult is amusing to read, yet remains appropriately serious."

- Stern (Germany)

"A seriously entertaining study in political thought, with an underlying gravity, full of black humour and surprising facts."

- Fredrik Wandrup, Dagbladet (Norway)

"Mikal Hem has written a lively little book, which uses jet black satire to expose some of the most dangerous and involuntary comical people on earth."

- Mikkel Andersson, Jyllands-Posten (Denmark)