Author Archives: Anna

I must admit, that even though I have had time off, it has been an intense week. Books and writing has been in focus. I bought a review of Swedish poetry (14th century-today) in Uppsala this week. To remind myself. When I went to high school I remember I had a very good teacher in Swedish and also in literature. Baudelaire, Geijer, Fröding, Södergran. And not the least, Shakespeare’s sonnets. I still remember, but need to be refreshed.

The newspaper I read more closely is Upsala Nya Tidning (UNT). The other news I follow on the internet. I saw that UNT arrange a gathering for interesting authors published this year, so I went there this Tuesday. At Universitets aulan in Uppsala. I have been there several times, and it is always a special feeling going there. Conservative traditions. I arrived to Uppsala in the dusk and I had my camera with me. As usual it was windy, and a little cold. Autumn. I thought, I better try to practice photography. Need to go to a course some time. But when? Therefore, I practice and practice.

From the railway station I passed by buildings I remember. LundeQ (famous bookshop) has moved and some other shops are new. I walked through Uppsala to Universitetsaulan and reminded myself when I lived there. This evening was in a way a transition for me; from science to languages and humanism. I no longer study receptors, but writing and languages instead.

I am sharing some photos from my walk, and the evening at Universitets aulan. Several authors presented their nice work, but I only show a photo of Stina Wollter, since she has a connection to Gothenburg, where I studied pharmacology. She has also a connection to Sala, where I went to high school, since she has exhibited her work at the Aguéli Museum. From what I remember, her father Sven Wollter is a true “göteborgare”, and theatre is one of his main interests. In a way, it is also connected to my own writing since my main character Fredrik’s best friend is Sven.

It is actually after midnight, but I felt like writing a few words since I have a day off tomorrow. It is autumn now. No doubt. Rain, little sun and chillier. I stayed with my parents for some time, but I didn’t dare to go for a long walk with my sweetie because hunting is going on.

Since my mother has some difficulties to remember things, I make cinnamon rolls for her. That makes her remember a lot. The flavour of cinnamon and also the sweet taste with raisins that gives a lot of energy. Talk about medicine. Meanwhile, I listen to “söndagsintervjun”, and this time I listened to Ann Sofie von Otter and Fredrik Skavlan.

Ann Sofie von Otter has had, I believe, a terrible year loosing her husband Benny Fredriksson, who more or less was followed by media when he worked with theatre. I am very found of music and theatre, therefore I listened. It must take time to go through such a loss in life. He decided to leave life when they were on a journey to Australia. Furthermore, it is now several years ago, but I remember that when I returned from Norway to Sweden I often watched Skavlan to adjust myself from Norway to Sweden. I almost couldn’t talk Swedish when I returned, I remember. If Fredrik is going to have some interesting interviews this autumn I will watch again. He is good at making people talk.

This evening I listened to some authors presenting their writing in Uppsala at universitetsaulan. I will write more about that later, and til then, I have some nice photos I will share. But, first these autumn photos with my dearest sweetie.

Utterance and contradictions.

Freedom has always been a keyword in my life. I work for freedom, like freedom of speech. Recently, I read something about freedom in balance, and also, that there actually are countries in the world where freedom has decreased. Here, Turkey is a leading country.

Lies, fakery, corruption, injustice, disinformation campaigns and impunity are some important keywords when discussing freedom. This is a very complex, intriguing subject. And also, according to me, probably a very subjective topic. What freedom is for me may not be important for you. And vice versa.

Political challenges with regard to freedom. Here, the communist party leadership in China is another example. No need for comments. Moreover, military is sometimes used to block opposition, especially in countries where military has ruled for decades. Religious extremism is also touching upon freedom. Again, very complicated, and also a subject that need a lot of space to be elaborated on.

There is something called freedom house (watchdog organization), and they write about freedom in the world. To date, there is only one Arab country considered to be classified as free, namely Tunisia. Morocco, Jordan and Kuwait are very close and come second. Presently, I am still thinking of a good subject for my next book. I have decided to write about freedom, and this is definetly going to be a tremendous challenge. So, I got inspired by this article. As you might understand, I read various news to find inspiration.

Music can play a role in freedom. Life is always a contradiction and that fascinates me. When I was in Dubai I made some observations. Law was very important. If you made any mistakes against law, immediate punishments were directly put into practice. Furthermore, women often wore quite, strict clothing. However, in the evenings, it was very popular to have bellydancers. Talking about contradiction. To conclude, music contributed to an easy ambience. Music seem to be a place where people can meet, even though different state of minds.

As usual I share a little something with you. These photos are from New Year 2018, Dubai. Mostly, I travel alone, but that doesn’t bother me. Rather often I meet people on excursions etc, and this time I met a family from Sri Lanka. They work at the university and for Blackberry, and live in Toronto, Canada. Since it was so much snow there at that timepoint, they wanted to see their family over christmas in Sri Lanka. We met on the desert excursion, and the evening ended with BBQ and belly dancers in the dark desert. I am still learning photography. It takes time. The other photo is from Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. What a contradiction, don´t you agree? Talk about freedom and restrictions.