The Seventh and Last?

Besides the number three, seven is the most important of the sacred numbers according to Oriental tradition. In the Sumerian scriptures seven demons are mentioned who make up the constellation of the Pleiades - or «Seven Sisters». Among the Jews we find the number seven in the sevenbranched candelabra - and in the Book of Revelations the number seven plays a major role. In the Middle Ages, in Europe, sevenfold phenomena were particularly fancied: the Seven Gifts of the Spirit, the Seven Virtues, the Seven Ages of Man, the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Seven Divisions of   the Lord's Prayer, for example. And among the Greeks the number seven stood for totality or completion, which we can recognise in the Danish expression: ?Seventhly and lastly".

This edition of Nordic Literature is actually the present editorial board's number seven - and in it we take the temperature of recent developments in Nordic literature since the turn of the Millennium. There is an article about how much ground has been won by literary translation, thanks to two novels published in the 1990s, Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, and Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy, which have paved the way for a flood of translations from the Nordic languages into, especially, continental European languages. The English speaking world is, however, still luke-warm - doubtless because they feel they have enough literature of their own already. But that attitude can be changed, if, in our part of the world, we make the necessary effort. In any event, we mustn't just stand back and expect a break-through in translation to happen of its own accord, with or without a Peter Høeg or a Jostein Gaarder.

We take the pulse of the literary milieux in the various Nordic countries, discovering unmistakable indications that ?recognizable reality" is coming back in again, bringing with it a larger reading public. Yet it is equally apparent that our current literature exhibits a high degree of independence, often balancing precariously on the edge between the egocentric and the political - and this determination to go one's own way defies any attempt to tie it down within any narrow categorization. Even so, there are words of warning from Sweden about an excessive attention to form - which may run the risk of uniformity, since all the writers seem to be keeping a very close eye on each other.

One of the main aims behind the original publication of Nordic Literature in 1993 was to draw attention to the Nordic Council's Literary Award. Both to arouse interest throughout our own geographical region, but also so that the surrounding world could become aware of the fact that excellent literature existed in what may have seemed to be our relatively remote corner. Since then, the literary annual has expanded, both literally and in terms of its selection of topics, but candidates for the substantial Nordic Award have always taken pride of place. And this edition is no exception, for - besides reviews of all the nominated books - there is an extensive interview with this year's winner. Unusually in this context, though, the winner, Göran Sonnevi, is interviewed by a former winner, Eva Ström.

Nordic Literature is published by Nordbok for the Nordic Council, but   - as a lot of things are currently being reorganised - it is sadly not yet clear whether its annual publication will continue. So perhaps number seven means we have reached the end of the road, or yet again - perhaps not...?

Jógvan Isaksen, Chief Editor