Siri Iagnemma

  

Volume 10 | Issue I | March 2026

Belmont High School ’26

Massachusetts, United States

  

As a child, I listened to my mother read to me from Bland Tomtar och Troll and Tomtebobarnen—fantastical tales of mystical Swedish trolls and gnomes set in the Nordic Forest. I marveled at the stories’ melancholy tone and their earnest emphasis on nature, community, and the interconnectedness of all living things—cultural touchstones that I recognized in contemporary Swedish culture in my own multicultural household. Later, I became curious about how bygone myths and legends might relate to modern societies and how a society might express and define itself through the stories it holds dear. This childhood experience motivated my study exploring the connection between myth and folklore in Swedish stories and Latin American magical realism. I was inspired to explore this topic due to my prior investigation of the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez at the Stanford Summer Humanities Institute, and connections I observed to Selma Lagerlof’s Gosta Berling’s Saga. My research has led me to think more deeply about the global literature I consume, the cultures I observe, and how seemingly disparate works of fiction can converge in unexpected ways. Outside of academics, I play piano, edit my school’s literary journal, and run cross country.