More than 100 years ago, Swedish immigrant Signe Aurelle traveled alone from Sweden to Minnesota where she worked as a laundress and seamstress. In 1919, she self-published a series of Swedish-language poems that explored feelings of homesickness and the struggle for a brighter future. Titled Irrbloss—meaning Will-o’-the-Wisp—this collection of metrically perfect and linguistically glowing poetry remained mostly unknown until Marcus Cederström, Community Curator of Nordic-American folklore for the Sustaining Scandinavian Folk Arts in the Upper Midwest Project, wrote his dissertation about Signe.

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 underscore the continued relevance and impact of Signe’s words. In October 2019, 100 years after they were released, the album with the compositions of Signe Aurell’s poems was released on Kakafon Records. These songs will be performed live at the Swedish American Museum.

Fans of folk music and poetry should not miss this unique evening of music.
This is a collaboration with the Swedish-American Historical Society.
Fika will be served.
Tickets are $20.