Folklore Program UW-Madison

We’re excited to announce that Swedish musicians Maja Heurling, Ola Sandström, and Livet Nord will be visiting campus during the first week of October. Along with a few class visits, they’ll be performing Irrbloss: Songs from the Poetry of Signe Aurell on Tuesday, October 4, at 6:00pm at Tripp Commons in Memorial Union. The performance is free and open to the public: https://folklife.wisc.edu/event/signe-aurell-irrbloss/

Signe Aurell was a Swedish woman who came to the United States in 1913, worked as a laundress and seamstress, joined the Industrial Workers of the World, and wrote poetry and essays—including her self-published poetry collection, Irrbloss (Will-o’-the-Wisp)—during her seven years living in Minnesota.

Musicians Maja Heurling and Ola Sandström collaborated to set music to a selection of poems from Irrbloss, blending folk stylings and the Swedish visa tradition together to amplify the importance and continued relevance of Aurell’s words. In doing so, the group has employed the Swedish visa tradition to interpret not just Aurell’s poetry, but also the migration histories of the over one million Swedes who came to the United States.

The performances will feature songs based on the poetry of Aurell, as well as stories from her life in both Sweden and the United States.