The program included a lecture on the history of Norwegian literature prepared by Prof. Dr. Dora Maček from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb. Two well-known poems by Henrik Wergeland were presented in Norwegian. The poems were translated by Dr. Dora Maček and presented in Croatian by the Croatian actor Boris Svrtan from the Gavella Theatre.
Fruitful cooperation
The event was a result of 15 years of close cooperation between the Croatian-Norwegian Friendship Association and the Zagreb City Libraries, promoting Norwegian literature. The Association received financial support for the project from the MFAEI in Croatia. The guest list included the First Secretary of the Norwegian Embassy Mr. Jens Erik Grøndahl, The Director of the City of Zagreb Libraries Mrs. Davorka Bastić, President of the Croatian-Norwegian Friendship Association Mr. Tomislav Zoričić and Secretary of the Croatian-Norwegian Friendship Association Mrs. Teodora K. Bakota.
Norwegian donations
All guests were encouraged to donate books to the Norwegian Corner. The Norwegian Embassy granted the library a selection of literary works including anthologies of Norwegian fairytales, several poetry collections in addition to novels from well-renowned Norwegian authors as Kjell Askildsen, Tor Ulven, Dag Solstad and Lars Saabye Christensen. All donations were translated into Croatian.
The Tin Ujevic library has for a long time made a priority to collect international and Nordic literature, and the event celebrated the Norwegian part of this collection. By introducing and making Norwegian literature more accessible to the Croatian audience, the Norwegian Corner will hopefully be of great enjoyment for future visitors and strengthen the ties between the countries literary traditions.