I’m Going to Norway!
Five years ago at a comix festival in France I met a Norwegian editor for a cup of tea that became a wonderful afternoon’s chat and then her kind invitation to the rockin’ Nordic party. When I got home, she sent me a tote bag emblazoned with a Norwegian feminist cartoon character Nemi from a strip drawn by Lise Myhre. I love it, and have used it ever since, receiving no end of compliments.
Flash forward to me this past winter, huddled in my reading chair, scanning my iPad for something hygge to get me through. And suddenly I discovered Cecilia Blomdahl. She’s a Swedish videographer with her own Youtube channel and she lives on Svalbard, an island that’s less off the coast of Norway than it is in the Arctic.
Click here to watch one of Ceclila’s Youtube videos.
I’d always loved watching Nordic Noir, but what a thing, to see how someone right now actually lives and works there. Now it’s almost summer and I still can’t live without her drone shots of the changing polar scenery and sunlight and her Scandinavian way of pronouncing the letter “k”. In honor of my obsession I even bought a new decoration over the holidays—a little white glass polar bear who looks like he’s made of ice.
And then... Drum roll... I got an invitation in my email TO BE A GUEST OF THE OSLO COMICS EXPO--in N-O-R-W-A-Y!!! I answered yes so fast there was SMOKE coming out of my computer...
Oslo Comics Expo takes place in a park in Oslo called Grünerløkka from June 5-8. It has been an annual international event since 2007, and I am so honored to be included! I will be on a panel discussing graphic medicine on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. with artists Trond Bredesen and Klara Wiksten, moderated by Aleksandra Bartoszko. Saturday afternoon I’ll be signing copies of my book The Story of My Tits at the Rosa Bøker table at the marketplace at 2:00 p.m., and I’ll be doing a presentation about my book with interviewer Tina Søreng-Christensen from 7:00-8:00 p.m. At 8:00 I’ll also be doing a reading as part of the “Loud Comics Lounge.”
It will be my first time ever in Norway. In all of Scandinavia. I’ve started learning Norwegian on Babbel for my trip—and to be able to sound like Cecilia when I pronounce the letter “k”... I can now say, “Jeg snakke ikke Norge”, which means: “I don’t speak any Norwegian.” (Get it? It’s my first Norwegian joke!)
Well, I hear the Norwegians speak beautiful English, so I probably won’t get a chance to show my ignorance. But it’s good to have a dream. My dream is to travel the world sharing my books in every language. The pictures need no translation. So comics are already halfway to being a universal language.
And I can’t wait to meet the comics community of Oslo.