With the Lapps had a lovely launch at the Nordic Heritage Museum May 21 in Seattle. The crowd responded to Emilie Demant Hatt's writing in the best possible way, by laughing at times and leaning forward at other times, caught up in her adventure driving a reindeer in hard, snowy conditions. It was a great honor and pleasure to be able to introduce this remarkable woman to English speakers. I also showed some slides of Emilie's photographs and artwork. Again, I was thrilled to see how the audience responded to her as an artist, as well as a writer and ethnographer.
This weekend I'm lucky enough to have the pleasure again of talking about Emilie. I'll be reading tomorrow night at the always effervescent Swedish Club in Seattle. Somehow, I just love that place, and the view from the dining room, where the event takes place, is spectacular.
On Saturday, June 1, I'll be at Elliott Bay Books, also in Seattle, and one of my favorite bookstores in the world. That's in the afternoon.
Information for both readings, and for a couple of upcoming readings around Puget Sound, are in the post below. Hope to see you there!
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
With the Lapps Event Schedule around Puget Sound
Today is the official publication day for With the Lapps in the High Mountains by Emilie Demant Hatt, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. I'm thrilled to see this fantastic book finally available to an English-reading audience.
I'm heading off to San Francisco tomorrow for the Scandinavian Studies conference, where I'll present a paper on her: "My Nomad Year": From Tourist to Participant-Observer--Emilie Demant Hatt Among the Sami 1907-8.
Below is the schedule for readings from the book in the Puget Sound area. I'm especially looking forward to the launch May 21 at the Nordic Heritage Museum. If you live nearby, please join me in celebrating With the Lapps!
I'm heading off to San Francisco tomorrow for the Scandinavian Studies conference, where I'll present a paper on her: "My Nomad Year": From Tourist to Participant-Observer--Emilie Demant Hatt Among the Sami 1907-8.
Below is the schedule for readings from the book in the Puget Sound area. I'm especially looking forward to the launch May 21 at the Nordic Heritage Museum. If you live nearby, please join me in celebrating With the Lapps!
Seattle
Book Launch
Nordic
Heritage Museum
Tuesday,
May 21, 7 pm
3014 NW 67th Street
Seattle, WA 98117
206-789-5707
Swedish
Cultural Center
Friday,
May 31, 7 pm
1920
Dexter Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109
Seattle, WA 98109
(206)
283-1090
Elliott
Bay Book Company
Saturday,
June 1, 2 pm
1521
Tenth Avenue
Seattle WA 98122
Seattle WA 98122
(206)
624-6600
Village
Books
Thursday,
June 13, 7 pm
1200
11th Street
Bellingham, WA 98225
(360) 671-2626
Bellingham, WA 98225
(360) 671-2626
The
Writers’ Workshoppe
Wednesday,
June 26, 7 pm
234
Taylor St.
Port
Townsend, WA 98368
360-379-2617
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Stockholm Neon
I have a weakness for Stockholm's old and new neon signs. Here are two, observed on recent strolls.
This is a storied theater on Drottninggatan. It was designed by Erik Gunnar Asplund and originally opened in the 1920s.
From the 1970s is Kulturhuset at Sergels Torg, a center for performance and culture.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Matador
Although "Matador" evokes something other than a wildly popular mini-series about Denmark's history 1929-1947, the name is the equivalent of Monopoly in English. When I first arrived in Copenhagen a friend suggested I watch some episodes as a way of improving my ear for Danish. Her collection of "Matador" DVDs had options for subtitles in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish--I chose the Danish. This gave me the opportunity to both read and listen. It was far better than anything else I could have done to get better Danish pronunciation into my head.
In the end I watched all 24 episodes over a two-week period. "Matador" was originally shown on Danish TV beginning in the 1970s, but it has been shown repeatedly over the decades to huge audiences in Denmark and elsewhere in the world. It was created by Lise Nørgaard, and included performances by many of Denmark's best known actors. The many story lines, involving several families in a small town, were expertly crafted to give the sense of changing times, for workers, women, and the bourgeois families who saw their power eroding. It was funny, heart-wrenching, and often tremendously exciting storytelling.
Not only did I get more of a feel for Danish history, but I found that everyone I knew in Denmark was very familiar with the series (and friends in Sweden too), so that made for another connection with this culture.
In the end I watched all 24 episodes over a two-week period. "Matador" was originally shown on Danish TV beginning in the 1970s, but it has been shown repeatedly over the decades to huge audiences in Denmark and elsewhere in the world. It was created by Lise Nørgaard, and included performances by many of Denmark's best known actors. The many story lines, involving several families in a small town, were expertly crafted to give the sense of changing times, for workers, women, and the bourgeois families who saw their power eroding. It was funny, heart-wrenching, and often tremendously exciting storytelling.
Not only did I get more of a feel for Danish history, but I found that everyone I knew in Denmark was very familiar with the series (and friends in Sweden too), so that made for another connection with this culture.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Scenes from Copenhagen
 |
| A late spring. |
 | ||
| The teachers in Denmark have been locked out of the schools for almost two weeks. |
 |
| Construction on 18 new metro stations. Only 5 years until they open. |
Thursday, March 28, 2013
How strange the spring
Printed on a window at the airport in Keflavik: a poem by Mattias Johannessen. I was between planes, en route from Seattle to Copenhagen. Red dawn from the east as we flew over Iceland's southern coastline. And there were the small lights of fishing boats below in the rocking sea.
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