The Gustavus Adolphus College Department of Scandinavian Studies will welcome Swedish author and playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri to campus the week of April 30 as the College’s Out of Scandinavia Artist-in-Residence. In addition to serving as a keynote speaker at this year’s MAYDAY! Peace Conference, Khemiri will visit classes in the departments of Scandinavian Studies and English and be part of three other events which are all open to the public.
Monday, April 30, 7 p.m., Beck Hall 101: “Writing and Translating Montecore.” Khemiri and translator Rachel Willson-Broyles will talk about Khemiri’s novel Montecore and the challenges of translating it to English.
Tuesday, May 1, 8 p.m., Black Box Theater: “Montecore – A Reading.” A cast of Gustavus theatre and dance students and alumni will present excerpts from Khemiri’s novel. The performance includes Robert O. Berdahl ’90 and is directed by Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance Henry MacCarthy. Limited seating is available for this event.
Wednesday, May 2, 7 p.m., American Swedish Institute: Khemiri and Willson-Broyles will present their talk “Writing and Translating Montecore” at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis.
Khemiri is hailed as one of the most important Swedish writers of his generation. He is the author of two novels and one collection of plays and short stories. His first novel, One Eye Red (2003), received the Boras Tidning Award for best literary debut. His second book, Montecore (2007), won several literary awards including the Swedish Radio Award for best novel of the year. Khemiri’s first play, Invasion!, was recognized with a Village Voice Obie Award in 2011 for best script.
Willson-Broyles is a freelance translator specializing in literature. In addition to her translation work, she is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her bachelor’s degree in Scandinavian Studies from Gustavus in 2002 and her master’s degree in Scandinavian Studies from UW-Madison in 2007.
For more information about Out of Scandinavia Week at Gustavus, contact the Department of Scandinavian Studies at 507-933-7391.
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