In addition to a variety of virtual Nordic events, this month welcomes the start of new online language classes at certain institutions as well.

Mindekirken’s Norwegian Language and Culture Program has opened registration for the spring semester and offers online classes featuring language and literature starting at the end of March and continuing through the beginning of June.

The Scandinavian School & Cultural Center in San Francisco also offers online Norwegian language classes as well as Danish, Swedish, and Finnish classes starting at the beginning of March. In addition to classes, they offer a virtual monthly Language Café to practice your Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, or Swedish.

For Los Angeles area readers, the 45th Scandinavian Festival returns to Thousand Oaks on June 4-5, 2022, at California Lutheran University. It is the largest Nordic-themed event in Southern California celebrating the cultures and traditions of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Sami people of the Arctic regions of Scandinavia. If you are interested in volunteering at the 2022 Scandinavian Festival, please contact Karen Ashim at ScanFestVolunteers@gmail.com.

What looks intriguing to you this month?

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Nordic Lights Film Festival (February 25 – March 5)

The Nordic Lights Film Festival is devoted to celebrating Nordic cinema—this year, once again, virtually. All films are available to watch during the run of the festival. You may choose your own viewing schedule but once you start a film, you will have 72 hours to finish it. Some of the feature films have been geo-blocked by their production companies and will only be viewable in the state of Washington.

Celebrate Laskiainen with Scandinavia House (March 1 – 6)

Join Finnish singer Ida Metsberg as she shows you how to make your very own laskiaispulla, while sharing her own childhood memories of Laskiainen/Shrovetide! This event will take place as a virtual event premiering on March 1 via YouTube and Facebook. It will remain available to stream through Sunday, March 6. Laskiainen (Shrovetide) is often described as a “mid-winter sliding festival”. Associated with Shrove Tuesday, it is a celebration of the beginning of Lent that takes place before Easter, but includes both pagan and ecclesiastic traditions.

Nordic Literature in Translation: The Land of Short Sentences (Saturday, March 5, 1:00 p.m. ET, Free)

Join Scandinavia House for a Nordic Literature in Translation event with this year’s American-Scandinavian Foundation Translation Prizewinner Hunter Simpson and the author of the work in translation, Stine Pilgaard, moderated by Shimanto Reza. Now in its 43rd year, ASF’s Annual Translation Competition awards prizes for outstanding translations of poetry, fiction, drama, or literary prose written by a 20th- or 21st-century Nordic author. In today’s event, Pilgaard and Simpson will discuss the writing and translation of the book.

Scandinavia House Nordic Book Club: Adorable (Tuesday, March 8, 6:00 p.m. ET, Free)

This month, Scandinavia House’s Nordic Book Club will be discussing Adorable by Ida Marie Hede, out in translation by Sherilyn Nicolette Hellberg, which was recently discussed by the author in the virtual panel “The Familiar & The Absurd: Literature from Copenhagen,” now streaming here.

Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center Nordic Book Club: Hotel Silence (Tuesday, March 8, 6:00 p.m. CT)

Join Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center in Rock Island, Illinois, to discuss Hotel Silence by Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir, translated from the Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbon.

National Danish Book Club: Mirror, Shoulder, Signal  (Tuesday, March 8, 5:00 p.m. PT, Free)

Explore a selection of Danish literature in English translation with a new nationwide book club. Each month a celebrated Danish author will be selected and discussed in two virtual settings: Book Club group discussions and accompanying Literary Events. This month’s selection is Mirror, Shoulder, Signal (Spejl, skulder, blink) by Dorthe Nors, translated from the Danish by Misha Hoekstra. The Literary Event, an interview with Dorthe Nors, will take place on Tuesday, March 8, while the Book Club group discussion will take place Tuesday, March 15.

Panel: Jon Fosse’s SEPTOLOGY (Wednesday, March 9, 4:00 p.m. PT)

Community Bookstore (Brooklyn, New York), Brazos Bookstore (Houston, Texas), and Third Place Books (Seattle, Washington) invite you to an evening celebrating the release of A NEW NAME: SEPTOLOGY VI-VII by Jon Fosse, one of Norway’s most celebrated authors and playwrights. This event, co-sponsored by the Norwegian Consulate General in New York, will take place on Zoom Webinar. Click here for more information and to register.

Nordic Spirit Classics’ Second Friday Series—1000 Year History of Iceland in One Hour: From Viking Settlement to Recent Times (Friday, March 11, 7:30 p.m. PT)

A fascinating thousand-year history of Iceland, land of fire, ice, Vikings, Icelandic horses, puffins and much more, is ably described by Dr. Elisabeth Ward. Participation is free, but you must register to receive the link. The monthly series of Nordic Spirit Classics is a virtual program of selected presentations from 21 years of Nordic Spirit Symposia hosted by The Scandinavian American Cultural & Historical Foundation in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Introduction to Finnish (Sunday, March 13, 12:45-2:45 p.m. CT)

Are you curious about the Finnish language, but not yet ready to commit to a multi-date class? Are you looking for a quick and low-pressure way to get excited about a new language? This two-hour introductory workshop is the perfect way to get a feel for Finnish — pick up a bit of grammar and learn how to pronounce some words as part of basic conversation.

Introduction to Swedish (Sunday, March 13, 1:00-3:00 p.m. CT)

Are you curious about learning Swedish, but not ready yet to commit to a multi-date class? In this two-hour introductory workshop, students will get a feel for the Swedish language, pick up a bit of grammar and learn how to pronounce some words as part of basic conversation.

Vesterheim Bokprat: Wendy Swallow’s Searching For Nora: After The Doll’s House (Wednesday, March 16, 7:00-8:30 p.m. CT)

Dr. Maren Johnson, Luther College’s Associate Professor of Nordic Studies and Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies Director, facilitates a monthly bokprat, discussing Scandinavian authors and Scandinavian life. Following February’s discussion of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, join in March to explore Wendy Swallow’s Searching for Nora: After the Doll’s House. Author Wendy Swallow will join the event, and following the small group discussions in breakout rooms, there will be a Q&A with the author. Enrollment deadline: March 9, 2022.

Workshop: Scandinavian Fish Pie with Patrice Johnson (Friday, March 18, 5:00-7:00 p.m. CT)

If you’ve never tried a savory Scandinavian fish pie, this winter is the perfect time to do so! Grab some family members or friends to prep and cook this one dish meal – cod or haddock in a creamy filling topped with mashed potatoes. While our main dishes cook, we’ll prep a salad and simple dessert. This class is designed as a cook along experience, perfect for cooks who want a few extra tips and tricks while tackling classic Scandinavian comfort food at home. This program is sold out, but you can ask to be added to a waitlist.

Hearty Nordic Meal with North Wild Kitchen (Saturday, March 19, 10:00 a.m. CT)

Join Vesterheim and celebrated food writer and author Nevada Berg from North Wild Kitchen in making a hearty meal highlighting the traditional flavors of Norway. In this class, you’ll be making the Reindeer Stew (beef or other game meat can be substituted for the reindeer) with Samisk Bread “reinsdyrgryte med Samisk brød”, and the Light and Fluffy Cheesecake “ostekake” from her cookbook. The class is currently full, but you can be added to the waitlist.

The Nordic Heart Bokklubb Book Club: Unto a Good Land by Vilhelm Moberg (Saturday, March 19, 10:30 a.m. CT, Free)

In this meeting, participants of The Nordic Heart Bokklubb Book Club will be discussing the second half of book 2 in The Emigrant Novels series by Vilhelm Moberg, Unto a Good Land, as well as reviewing the whole book. Considered one of Sweden’s greatest 20th century writers, Vilhelm Moberg created Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson to portray the joys and tragedies of daily life for early Swedish pioneers in America. His consistently faithful depiction of these humble people’s lives is a major strength of The Emigrant Novels.

Virtual Book Talk: Swedish-American Borderlands (Saturday, March 19, 10:00 a.m. PT, Free)

Swedish–American Borderlands studies connections and contacts between Sweden and the United States from the seventeenth century to today, exploring how movements of people have informed the circulation of knowledge and ideas between the two countries to produce new understandings of what we perceive as Swedish, American, and Swedish American.  The volume investigates multiple transcultural exchanges between Sweden and the United States. Rather than concentrating on one-way processes or specific national contexts, Swedish–American Borderlands adopts the concept of borderlands to examine contacts, crossings, and convergences between the nations, featuring specific case studies of topics like jazz, architecture, design, genealogy, and more. In this virtual book talk, editors Dag Blanck and Adam Hjorthén present the volume’s contribution to the history of Swedish-American relations.

Nordic Language Café (Sunday, March 20, 5:00-6:00 p.m. PT)

Join The Scandinavian School & Cultural Center virtually on March 20 to practice your Danish, Finnish, Norwegian or Swedish, the choice is yours! This is a perfect opportunity for you to practice your speaking skills and meet other people who share your passion for all things Nordic. All levels are welcome. Participants will be divided up into different breakout rooms in their chosen Nordic language according to their conversational skills, ranging from beginner to advanced. You don’t have to be a student at SSCC to join, but they are of course hoping to see both current and former language adult learners on the screen. Are you a native speaker up for a chat? They would love for you to join them.

Extreme North: Virtual Programming with Bernd Brunner and Eric Jaronski (Thursday, March 24, 1:00 p.m. ET, Free)

Scandinavia House and Deutsches Haus at NYU present a virtual program with acclaimed author Bernd Brunner and renowned Germanist, writer, and mastermind of @neinquarterly, Eric Jaronski. In today’s program, hear a reading by Brunner from his latest book, Extreme North (W. W. Norton, February 2022), translated by Jefferson Chase – an entertaining and informative voyage through cultural fantasies of the North, from sea monsters and a mountain-sized magnet to racist mythmaking – followed by a conversation with Jarosinski.

Swedish American Museum Book Club: Pakkis by Khalid Hussain (Saturday, March 26, 1:00-2:00 p.m. CT)

Join Swedish American Museum in Chicago, Illinois, to discuss Pakkis by Khalid Hussain, translated from the Norwegian by Claudia Berguson and Ingeborg Kongslien. Khalid Hussain is a Norwegian-Pakistani writer and film producer. Hussain was born in 1969 in Pakistan and moved to Norway without his parents in 1975. He came to attention after writing the book Pakkis in 1986 when he was 16 years old. Drawing upon his own life experiences, Hussain voiced in Pakkis the unique challenges of many young immigrants in Norway.

Nordiska’s Book Club: The Real Valkyrie (Thursday, March 31, 6:00 p.m. PT)

To celebrate International Women’s Day (March 8) and National Women’s History Month in March, Nordiska has decided to highlight women’s lesser-known roles in Nordic history. Women’s histories have historically been marginalized, but due to the work of researchers and writers like Nancy Marie Brown, incredible stories are finally being spotlighted. Join in reading and discussing Brown’s latest publication, The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women. Receive a 15% discount on the book club pick by using the code “bookclub22” when purchasing the book through Nordiska’s online store.

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Looking ahead…

Want to plan your reading? Here’s a look ahead at virtual book events for April.

• Tuesday, April 12: To Cook a Bear by Mikael Niemi, tr. from the Swedish by (Scandinavia House Online Nordic Book Club)
• Monday, April 12: The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen, tr. from the Danish (Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center in Illinois)
• Tuesday, April 12 & 19: The Man in the Lighthouse by Erik Valeur, tr. from the Danish by Mark Mussari (National Danish Book Club)
• Wednesday, April 20: Beartown by Fredrik Backman, tr. from the Swedish by Neil Smith (Vesterheim Bokprat)
• Tuesday, May 10: Present Tense Machine by Gunnhild Øyehaug, tr. from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson (Scandinavia House Online Nordic Book Club)
• Tuesday, May 10: Things that Fall from the Sky by Selja Ahava, tr. from the Finnish by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah (Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center in Illinois)

Which events or experiences look interesting to you?

Be sure to visit previous months’ listings of virtual Nordic events. Many of the events are now available to view as saved recordings.