Today, few common readers remember Dorothe Engelbretsdotter, Regine Normann or Marta Steinsvik. I was among those readers, until last spring.
My name is Anne Elisabeth Kaldhol and I study Librarian and Information sciences in Oslo. In spring 2015, I was a student intern at Volda University College, a small Norwegian country town by a fjord. Ferries and tunnels connect us to the rest of the country. It is a beautiful place with tall mountaintops covered in snow, which glitters in sunshine or more frequently in rain. Volda University College is situated right in the middle of it. The school has around 4000 students and 350 employees.
How does Dorothe, Regine and Marta fit into the picture? They are a few of several female authors that were featured in an exhibition that two librarians and I put together at the request of Marie Nedregotten Sørbø. She asked the library at VUC if it was possible to have an exhibition featuring female Norwegian authors who published works before 1914, to coincide with a project meeting of Travelling Texts.
Due to time constraints, the books featured all belonged to Volda University College, but this did not make it a poor exhibition. The two librarians and I worked for the better part of a day to complete the exhibit, and to decide which books to feature and not. When you only have one glass case, though a large one, you cannot include all the works of one author, at least not if you want to include eight writers.
Sigrid Undset, Camilla Collett and Amalie Skram are perhaps the most famous of those featured, while people may never have heard of Marta Steinsvik, Magdalena Thoresen, Regine Normann, Berte Kanutte Aarflot or Dorothe Engelbretsdotter – all Norwegian female writers who wrote at a time when authors were predominantly male.
Dorothe Engelbretsdotter lived in the 17th century and is considered by many the first female Norwegian author. The book by her, a collection of two of her works, Siælens Sang-Offer (The Souls Spiritual Offering of Song) and Taare-Offer (Sacrifice of Tears), was perhaps the crown jewel of the exhibition. The pages are worn, torn and much loved. To hold a book that is nearly 300 years old is very special, and I felt awed by the history this book had had all on its own. To know that it was made so long before I or any person living today was born is incredible.
I would encourage everybody to discover more about these incredible women and authors. Marta Steinsvik graduated from the Norwegian School of Theology, but was not allowed to practice her profession. Amalie Skram had to pay to see her first book in print in 1885. Berte Kanutte Aarflot wrote hymns; in fact, she was recognized as one of the most famous authors of hymns of her time. This is just a taste, there is much more to find out!