• Culture,  Norway & Scandinavia

    Nordic Noir: 20 Scandinavian TV series to watch

    The winner of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest was rightfully Sweden with the song “Tattoo”, performed by Loreen. Although Sweden won the jury vote and the overall competition, it actually came second in the public vote. Neighbouring Finland might have won the public vote, but came second overall (in my opinion, it should have come last). Sweden’s other neighbour, Norway, finished fifth, whereas Denmark and Iceland did not qualify for the final. Inspired by Eurovision, today I’m reflecting on the Scandinavian TV series (mostly crime dramas) I’ve recently watched (as well as some older ones). 20 Scandinavian TV series to watch I have previously written about Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic TV series, but…

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  • Reading

    Travel writing: 10 books to read

    The Sherborne Travel Writing Festival, curated by the renowned British-Canadian travel writer Rory MacLean, took place from 14 to 16 April 2023. I was in Greece then, celebrating Easter, so I did not attend the festival. I have to admit here that I am yet to read any books by MacLean. Or, as a matter of fact, the writings of the ancient Greek geographer Pausanias, widely considered the first travel writer. But, what exactly constitutes travel writing? According to the Auckland-based travel writer Petrina Darrah, travel writing is defined as “writing that describes places the author has visited and the experiences they had while travelling”. Most agree that travel writing has…

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