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St. Olaf student wins Norwegian essay contest

By Jean Mullins '07
May 30, 2006

St. Olaf College student Nathan Hopkins '07 recently earned first prize in a Henrik Ibsen essay contest sponsored by the Norwegian Researchers and Teachers Association of North America (NORTANA). The prize includes a round-trip ticket to Norway and two nights accommodation from the organization Norwegian Literature Abroad. St. Olaf senior Jenna Larson is runner-up in the contest. She will receive a set of Norwegian books given by NORTANA. Both essays will be published in the NORTANA newsletter.

"We are very proud to have the winner of this contest and a runner-up being St. Olaf students," says Professor of Norwegian Solveig Zempel.

Hopkins, a philosophy major, became interested in learning more about Ibsen after listening to Toril Moi, an expert on Ibsen and a recent guest lecturer at St. Olaf. Hopkins had not had much exposure to Ibsen before the lecture, but Hopkins enjoyed Moi's philosophical take on Ibsen.

Hopkins read Ibsen voraciously over the next month, composing his essay, "Love's Reconciliation: On the Contemporary Significance of Ibsen's Ethics," during this fit of inspiration. "I think that Ibsen -- like Dostoevsky or Camus -- is as much a philosopher as an author, which appeals to me," Hopkins says.

Hopkins is unsure when he will travel to Norway, but is looking forward to the experience. "I have no Nordic blood and don't speak a word of Norwegian but, just as everyone's a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day, everyone's a little bit Norwegian at St. Olaf," Hopkins says. "I can't help but feel drawn somehow to the country."

The year 2006 has been dubbed the Ibsen Year in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Norwegian playwright's death in 1906. Ibsen wrote such notable works as A Doll's House, Hedda Gabler and An Enemy of the People.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.