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Those Cool Scandinavians

June 2007

This month we chill out with our Midsummer festival of literature from Scandinavia. See you at the Solstice.

The Northwest Express

By Gunnar Harding

even in our sleep there are cables / between us.

Translated from Swedish by Roger Greenwald

Far from Here

By Harry Martinson

I want to send a dream far from here.

Translated from Swedish by Lars Nordstrom

Heart’s Desire

By Willy Kyrklund

All female psychiatric computers are named Eliza, in accordance with a fine old tradition.

Translated from Swedish by Paul Norlén

How Is One to Hang Up?

By Cathrine Grøndahl

It should be well known that / the voices can be piercing,

Translated from Norwegian by Roger Greenwald

Let the Small Words Come to Me

By Cathrine Grøndahl

Let the small words come to me / Don’t let the demanding ones stop them

Translated from Norwegian by Roger Greenwald

Twenty-two Things Not to Be Trusted

By Håkan Sandell

Twenty-two things not to be trusted: /not night-old ice, not a winter in Skåne

Translated from Swedish by Bill Coyle

Prelude

By Tomas Tranströmer

Waking up is a jump, a skydive from the dream.

Translated from Swedish by Rika Lesser

From “Out Stealing Horses”

By Per Petterson

We were going out stealing horses.

Translated from Norwegian by Anne Born

It Could be Grass

So now we’ve begun packing. I’ve carried empty cardboard boxes home from the supermarket.

Translated from Danish by Mark Kline

The Raffle Ticket

By Jonas Karlsson

The moment Patrik Ohlsson unfolded the raffle ticket and saw the number for the first time, he noticed the intriguing ambiguity.

Translated from Swedish by Laurie Thompson

Tweety

By Matti Yrjänä Joensuu

But mostly it nested inside his chest, stirring in there like something alive.

Translated from Finnish by Lola Rogers

Ambulance

By Johan Harstad

I’m lying on my back in the ambulance, firmly strapped to the stretcher and we’re driving very fast through town…

Translated from Norwegian by Deborah Dawkin & Erik Skuggevik

The Bergkvist Sisters

By Levi Henriksen

I’ve had a lot of time lately, and I’ve been thinking about the King and Queen.

Translated from Norwegian by Deborah Dawkin & Erik Skuggevik