Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Swedish Reading Club: In Every Mirror She’s Black by Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström
7 PM
Our meeting will be held online using Zoom. For more information, including the link to join the meeting, please email info@sahswm.org.
Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people.
Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation’s largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi’s move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life.
A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege—a life she’s not sure she wants—as the object of his unhealthy obsession.
And refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny’s office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home.
Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She’s Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society.
You can buy the book online at Schuler’s, or at a 20% discount in the store.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Swedish Christmas Tree Decorating
10 AM-1 PM
Join the fun and festivity of decorating the Swedish Christmas tree at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park for the annual Christmas & Holiday Traditions exhibition. Hope to see you there!
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Sankta Lucia Celebration
Mayflower Congregational Church, 2345 Robinson Rd. SE, Grand Rapids, MI
10 AM
We invite you to come and enjoy this lovely Swedish introduction to the Christmas season and listen to the Lucia choir sing in a beautiful setting. It will once again be held in the lovely sanctuary of Mayflower Congregational Church. There will be plenty of free parking.
There will be baked goods and coffee to enjoy afterwards plus a Julmarknad sale! Bring cash if you are interested in purchasing any items.
Email info@sahswm.org to pre-register. You can pay at the door. Adults: $10; Students: $5; preschool and under: free.
Once again, SAHS is sponsoring our annual Lucia scholarship competition. The Doris & Clarence Anderson Memorial Scholarship is in memory of two of our organization’s founding members. Doris and Clarence were involved in almost every activity that our organization undertook. Doris was an especially integral part in our annual Lucia celebration. Among Doris’ many achievements was her selection many years ago as Chicago’s first Lucia.
The Scholarship Committee will award $500 each to a high school senior girl and senior boy who have been participants in our local Lucia pageant. Additionally, each applicant must be either the child or grandchild of a member of SAHS/WM. Applications can be downloaded here (PDF) and are due Nov. 30. We look forward to announcing the winners of this annual competition in December.
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Swedish Reading Club: The Preacher (Predikanten) by Camilla Läckberg
7 PM
Our meeting will be held online using Zoom. For more information, including the link to join the meeting, please email info@sahswm.org.
During an unusually hot July, detective Patrik Hedstrom and Erica Falck are enjoying a rare week at home together, nervous and excited about the imminent birth of their first baby. Across town, however, a six-year-old boy makes a gruesome discovery that will ravage their little tourist community and catapult Patrik into the center of a terrifying murder case.
You can buy the book online at Schuler’s, or at a 20% discount in the store.