Saturday 11 April 2009

Hjärnstorm - Swedish literary magazine

Hjärnstorm is one of those Swedish literary and cultural magazines that have survived against all odds. Smaller circulation literary magazines do not always last for more than a decade, but owing to a combination of subsidy and good editorship, Hjärnstorm (i.e. Brainstorm) has been going since 1977.

The issues of the magazine tend to be theme-centred, the latest (issue 96-97) being focused on the topic of suicide, which I hope does not presage an imminent departure from the Swedish literary scene. But the themes have been many, including psychedelia, Duchamp, Nietzsche, art criticism, pessimism, photography, Finland, the Sixties, Folkhemmet, the Weimar Republic, plus quite a few others. As can be seen, the magazine has an international outlook, but by no means neglects Sweden itself. So it can be a good windvane for translators who want to keep up with Swedish cultural trends.

As you can see from their website, it is sold at a number of outlets, scattered throughout Sweden, but mainly in Stockholm.

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