T. Singer-festivalen
Litteratur og verdensarv på Notodden

23. september 2023
Notodden – New York

LYDIA DAVIS (US, digital) • VALKYRIEN ALLSTARS • GUNNHILD ØYEHAUG • JULIA WIEDLOCHA • HILDE SUSAN JÆGTNES • TRYGVE RIISER GUNDERSEN • MATHIAS SAMUELSEN • AMALIE KASIN LERSTANG • ROQUE RAQUEL SALAS RIVERA (US, digital) • TRYM INNLEGGEN HAGALIA • JON HARALD ASPHEIM • HADLE REISÆTER (24.9) +++

“That’s Notodden,” he said, with great emphasis. “Do you see the ship to England? Out there?” Eyde pointed at the horizon, at the far end of the lake. “No? It must be delayed today! But surely you can see the ship to America? It’s that sleek boat over there, at the wharf! The America ship, that regularly travels from Notodden to New York, taking mostly immigrants from here and bringing well-heeled tourists back from New York. What a splendid trip, especially the last stretch into Norway. You see the America ship, don’t you? No? You don’t see anything? Can’t you see that Notodden is a port? Can’t you see you’re in one of Norway’s biggest seaports way up here in the interior of Telemark? Well, that’s what Notodden is. Notodden is a port town. If it’s not, then there’s been some mistake, and it’s that mistake that I have to deal with, seventy years after those in the know realised Notodden was one big mistake (…)”

From T Singer, by Dag Solstad.
Translated from Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally.