York Anglo Scandinavian Society ​

A display of material selected from the Swedish Royal Library’s collections Stockholm, until 16 October 2026 When I tell Swedes that I knew and met Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) and even visited her a couple of times in the small apartment she lived in for 61 years, it’s often as though you’re telling a follower that you once met the Buddha, so deep was the impression she, or more particularly perhaps her alter ego (?), Pippi Longstocking, made on Swedish identity. As a boy gro

Sunday’s Children, Ingmar Bergman (translated by Joan Tate) 1994, Vintage Classics (Brief Encounters series), 2026 Described as an autobiographical novella, and until now long out of print in English in the UK, Sunday’s Children is one in a trilogy the other two titles of which remain frustratingly unavailable here. Frustrating because the first thing I wanted to do after reading it was to order the other two titles. There are currently no plans to re-publish The Best Intent

By Dr Beck Sinar (YASS Chair and Senior Lecturer at the Norwegian Study Centre, University of York) The passing of His Majesty King Harald V today (28th August 2026) marks the end of a significant chapter in modern Nordic history. As members of the York Anglo-Scandinavian Society, we send our deepest sympathies to all those in Norway and across the international community affected by his loss. A monarch's role in a modern democracy is rarely without debate, and the institutio

By Professor Knut Øystein Høvik and Dr Beck Sinar Sometimes, dreams—and beautifully awkward diplomatic dilemmas—really do come true. This Saturday, England faces Norway in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. For the York Anglo-Scandinavian Society, this is the ultimate test of our allegiances. This blog is a truly collaborative effort, co-written by the Director of the Norwegian Study Centre (a football-obsessed Norwegian riding a wave of national euphoria), Knut Øystein, an