Selma Lagerlöf poetically recorded old Norse fairytales and profoundly influenced Swedish identity. Her work was so brilliant, she was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909. In old age, she turned her poetic pen to her own life, recalling winters in the 1860s at her beloved Varmland farmhouse, Mårbaka.
For our annual Christmas Special, we bring her poignant memoirs to life, accompanied by an audio feast of traditional Swedish music. God Jul!
Music featured in this episode was generously shared by Blås, Balg & Tagel, Haga Vokalensemble, MrsBean 1987, Kevin MacLeod, Aaron Kenny, DJ Williams, The Westerlies, and Wayne Jones.
You can find a digital copy of Mårbaka and all Selma Lagerlöf's books at Gutenberg Project.
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THE NATURALIST Maria Sibylla Merian
THE MOTHER OF FORENSIC SCIENCE Frances Glessner Lee
THE UNVEILED Huda Shaarawi
THE WARRIOR QUEEN Chand Bibi
VERSAILLES CHRISTMASTIDE Mary Stuart Boyd
THE SCREENWRITER Frances Marion
THE ORGANIZER Celia Sánchez
THE FIRST ACCUSED Tituba
THE PIRATE Ching Shih
BONUS EPISODE: Lost Women of England Tour 2021
THE RANI OF JHANSI Lakshmibai
GONE TO THE ENEMY Eve
THE UNBOWED Wangari Maathai
THE QUEEN OF THE COMSTOCK Eilley Bowers
THE EXILE Stefania Turkevych
THE ROUND-THE-WORLD CYCLIST Annie Londonderry
THE MYSTIC Margery Kempe
THE ROADBUILDER K’awiil
THE MEDIUM Helen Duncan
THE PAINTER Victorine Meurent
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