BY LO DAGERMAN Finally, the writings of Swedish author Stig Dagerman are becoming more available in the English language. Several volumes, some in new translations, are currently being published in the USA: German Autumn, Island of the Doomed, A Burnt Child (forthcoming) from the University of Minnesota Press, and a short story collection by Godine … More Our need for consolation: reading Stig Dagerman.
Late this year, U of MN Press published the first American edition of Stig Dagerman’s German Autumn, essays on the tragic aftermath of war, suffering, and guilt that are as hauntingly relevant today as they were sixty-plus years ago when Dagerman was first assigned by the Swedish newspaper Expressen to report on life in Germany … More “We wish to understand history as a whole, in order to understand ourselves.”
From Vikings in the Attic: In Search of Nordic America by Eric Dregni (Minnesota 2011), pgs. 252-53: At 6:15 in the morning of December 13, the parking lot of the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis is jammed, the castlelike structure clouded in the cars’ vapors. Tickets are sold out as the dark mansion on Park … More December 13th: Sankta Lucia Dagan (Festival of Lights)
BY JASON WEIDEMANNSenior acquisitions editor at University of Minnesota Press It’s an open secret here at the Press that I’m a pretty big gamer in my off time. A quick romp through a virtual world with an ax in one hand and a fireball spell in the other is the perfect antidote to a long … More Nerds and Nords: Why Styrbiorn the Strong is made for Skyrim fans.
A young Richard Lindberg poses with his father, Oscar, and Oscar’s 1959 Lincoln. Richard’s new memoir, Whiskey Breakfast, is a tale of his own experiences in often turbulent times. “The longest journey of any person is the journey inward.”—Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) BY RICHARD LINDBERG Twenty-two years ago I had an idea for a book about … More Richard Lindberg: My Swedish Family, My American Life
BY ERIC DREGNIAuthor of several books, including Vikings in the Attic: In Search of Nordic America, and assistant professor of English at Concordia University in St. Paul. It all begins with coffee. Especially egg coffee. Whenever I’d visit my great aunts, they’d have the pot brewing and little pastries or cookies to eat as they’d … More Eric Dregni: Swedish egg coffee and "traitorous" gossip
We invite those in the area to visit the book-release party for The Opposite of Cold tonight (Thursday, 9/30) beginning at 6 p.m. at the American Swedish Institute. A reception with food and a cash bar begins at 6; a slideshow presentation and book talk with the authors and an introduction by architect David Salmela … More The Opposite of Cold: Event tonight, plus book trailer #2
Michael Nordskog (from left) grew up in the heart of North American sauna country, and currently works as an attorney, writer, and editor. Aaron Hautala is the creative director and owner of RedHouseMedia in Brainerd, MN. His photographs have appeared widely throughout Minnesota. Last month, writer Michael Nordskog and photographer Aaron Hautala visited the Press … More THE OPPOSITE OF COLD: Michael Nordskog and Aaron Hautala discuss their new, incredible Finnish sauna book and provide a few key pronunciation tips.
Today begins the Jackson Hole Symposium, an annual and somewhat under-the-radar get-together of the world’s top economists and central bankers. The Washington Post provides detail on “the biggest event of the year for Federal Reserve insiders”: The topic this year is “Financial Stability and Macroeconomic Policy,” appropriate for a conference that comes two years after … More Tidbits: Jackson Hole, Vilhelm Moberg, Charles Darwin
