Memories of other lives

Walking in and around Stockholm brings back memories that I didn't know I had. All the weird things I did in those many years. Today I went on a walk close to Sigtuna, a lovely historical town north of Stockholm. Suddenly I remembered that I used to go to Sigtuna regularly, on weekend retreats invited as a guest and speaker by Sigtuna Foundation. These were small gatherings of about twenty people: writers, artists, musicians, theologians, and if you wonder what I was doing there, I wonder myself, but I know who had brought me there. There were talks and discussions, nice meals, evening performances and a Sunday morning service with communion that you could decline by putting your arm across your chest – you got a blessing instead. During that time I contributed to the cultural journal of the Swedish church. I had completely forgotten about this part of my career.

Jumping from there, I remembered that I used to attend Ingmarsspelen, which is an open-air amateur performance based on Selma Lagerlöf's novel Jerusalem. At that time, Swedish dailies were happy to get contributions from free lancers, and I was asked to do a feature about a Polish scholar who was receiving Ingmar Prize for the best work on Selma Lagerlöf. It was long before computers and even faxes so I dictated my piece over the phone, with someone in the office in Stockholm typing it up. They sent a photographer to take pictures. The prize-winner was asked to give a lecture from a church pulpit. It was my punch line in my article about the Polish scholar. Selma Lagerlöf's novel The Story of Gösta Berling starts: ”Finally the priest stood in the pulpit”. A couple of years later I won the same prize and had to give the lecture. It was the only time in my life I stood in a church pulpit.

Going further along Selma Lagerlöf path, for many years I attended the annual meetings of the Selma Lagerlöf Society. My old professor pushed me toward Lagerlöf scholarship which I gratefully embraced because then as now you needed to demonstrate other merits than children's literature to get a job, and Lagerlöf had been a favourite. I became a Board member of the Society, eventually Master of Ceremonies, which involved arranging annual membership lunches. The Society's by-laws prescribed that every other year the annual meeting should be in Sunne, Lagerlöf's birthplace where she also lived most time of her life; and alternative years some other place in Sweden connected to her works. Attending meetings was always a nice adventure. My professor did not drive, and at that time driving was for me still a pleasure rather than a burden so I was happy to drive us both. Halfway to Sunne there was a coffee shop where we would stop for mid-morning coffee. I guess we had interesting conversations on the way. When I resigned from the Board due to my move to Cambridge, I received a medal for my service. Another exciting part of my professional life that I have sort of forgotten.

More Lagerlöf: for a while I was on the jury of the Lagerlöf Prize, recognising a lifetime achievement of a Swedish author whose work could be defined as written in the, I quote, ”epic spirit of Selma Lagerlöf”. Imagine the debates over the wording! The chair of the jury, who had no vote, but whose duty was to make sure that the jury was in unanimous agreement, literally locked the door of the meeting room so that we could not leave without making a decision. The meeting, usually taking place backstage at the Royal Drama Theatre, was followed by a fancy dinner, a good incentive to finish quickly, but I remember at least one meeting that went on for hours. Other times, we would get together, one of us would propose a candidate, everybody would support, we wrote a motivation and had plenty of time for preprandials. The members of the jury were among the most intellectually stimulating people I have met.

See where a simple walk in the vicinity of Sigtuna has led me!