[3] She graduated from Aarhus Cathedral School in 1960, and moved to Copenhagen, where she met and married Ole Strandgaard, an ethnography student and curator, in 1962.
[4] She later worked in film and television in addition to writing and publishing several books that included fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
[6] Straandgaard's books grapple with issues of equity, justice, and discrimination, and she wrote particularly and frankly of the experiences of women, relationships, marriage and divorce.
"[6] She made her debut as a poet in the 1960s, writing frankly on subjects such as menstruation, sex, and feminine desire, which was uncommon at the time.
[4] In 1969 she published Indimellem holder de af hinanden (Sometimes They Care About Each Other), a collection of 81 short text pieces that narrated a complex relationship of love, sex, and emotions.
[4] Notable books include Næsten kun om kærlighed (Almost Only About Love) (1977) and Gode hensigter (Good Intentions), which dealt with loneliness and the internet, in 1998.
She published Giv mig solen (Give Me the Sun), in 1986 and Og alt hans væsen (And All His Being) in 1988, both of which were autobiographical works.
[4] In 1996, along with Finn Slumstrup, she published I Lyset af Glæde (In the Light of Joy), a widely-read and critically received book in which she recounted the life of her father, detailing both, his knowledge, charm, and work as a critic and writer, as well as his history of engaging in fraud and forgery, notably including the creation of fraudulent checks while he taught at Aarhus University, and later, forging the signature of a principal at a school where he taught.
[2][11] In addition to her work in fiction and poetry, Straandgaard researched and wrote several books consisting of reporting, interviews and narrative non-fiction, addressing social issues.
[4] In 2004, along with journalist Poul Majgaard she published a book titled, Tænk, hvis det var dig (What if it was you?)
[13] Her last book, published in 2021, was titled Stræk din krop mod min (Stretch Your Body Against Mine) and was co-written with Johanne Kirstine Fall.
It starred Kirsten Peüliche, Margrethe Koytu, and Jesper Christensen and was one of the first films that dealt with the risks of nuclear power.
[4] As a young woman, Straandgaard was famously photographed on 6 July 1970, with Ebbe Kløvedal Reich, Hans-Jørgen Nielsen and Klaus Rifbjerg, while smoking weed on the front steps of building housing the Danish government's Ministry of Culture as a gesture of protest against the Ministry's decision to deny aid to a theatre group, Secret Service.