M.JOSÉ BOND: OPEN HAPPINESS FROM NORWAY

M.José Bond in her Viking ship

M.José Bond. Writer. Norway.

I was born in Trondheim, Norway in the Scandinavian lands. We are the country with the highest level of happiness. 

I'm a writer, a person who writes stories, who has something to explain, who can create fantastic worlds or terrible nightmares. 

I like literature and I was influenced by Hulda Garborg, one of the best Norwegian writers but also by an incredible painter: Edvard Munch.  I love sailing and I would like to write the story of the Vikings, my ancestors.

-Good morning, M.José Bond, and thanks to attend us.

-Good morning. It's a pleasure.

-It's difficult for me, as an interviewer, to sum up some questions about you.

-Why?

-Because of your job.

-Well, I'm a writer, a person who creates stories and shares them with other people.

-You create characters, you invent stories, you imagine places... how can I be sure that you're who you say that you are?

-You will never know it. It's a risk that you have to choose: believe me or not.
 

-How is the life of a writer?

-A normal one like other people. Writing isn't only a pleasure or hobby for me, it's also my profession, and then, I must write even these days when I'm not very inspired.

-What happens these days?

-Well, you must write and you can read it again next day. If you like writing, you continue writing, if you don't like, you change it and you start again.

-How many times have you started again?

-Every day. Every new day is a new beginning and you must start doing things to fill your life with your interests and hopes.

-Norway isn't a famous country... How can a Norwegian writer arrive to be a best seller and survive against the Anglo-Saxon competence?

-Creating good contents. Writing interesting books and I don't agree about the idea that Norway isn't a famous country.

-Why?

-Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, fresh water and hydropower. We are the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East. We have the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank; the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world; the highest inequality-adjusted ranking. We rank first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index and all of these things without being a member of the European Union, because Norway belongs to the EFTA.

-Norway was one of the poorest countries in the beginning of the last century. How has been possible this success?

-We are great administrators of our resources. We control all our richness and we believe in the most important active that a country has: our people.
 

-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?

-It's the same that Norway. The most important active in our family is ourselves. We're people with great energy and creativity and we must believe in ourselves.
 

-How is a normal day with The Bonds?

-A normal day is a day full of happiness and effort. We laugh a lot but we work very hard. You learn better if you spend good time. It's easier.

-How long have you been studying English?

-Since I was in the school. I belong to the Sami community. I speak Sami and Norwegian, the two official languages but there are three more recognized languages: Kven, Tavringer and Romani.

-Romani in Norway?

-Yes, of course. There's an important Romani community in Norway and we respect its language and culture. The question is not why we protect Romani language; the question is why Portugal, Spain, Italy or France don't protect it when the Romani community is bigger in these countries.

-Why?

-I don't know. I'm Norwegian but, perhaps they don't respect their diversity in the way we do it. Romani people are an incredible community which one day left Egypt and started to write a story of migrations, surviving, art and resistance. They wrote their history but, at the same time, they wrote our own history. I'm a member of the Sami community. I can understand Romani people very well, in fact, our flags are very similar. We need to write our history because if we don't do it, other people will do for us.

-Then English is not difficult to learn for a Norwegian?

-We have the same mother language, German. It's an advantage. 

-What can you explain about your life with The Bonds?

-It has been a great experience, a great source of inspiration to write something in the future.

-Which is your best memory with the family?

-It's impossible to choose only one but I remember two special days: one with Joanjo Bond when we won Eurovision representing Cyprus and Norway together and another when I talked about The Lovers of Teruel, an Aragonese couple with a tragic final. I'm a writer. I enjoyed composing the Eurovision song and I enjoyed reading the Aragonese story.

-Which character would you like to write about?

-My hero is Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who was the first to reach the South Pole, on 14 December 1911 and the first expedition leader for the air expedition to the North Pole in 1926.

-Do you like exploring?

-I'm a writer. I'm curious. I need to know. I need to discover new things. I love prospectors. I remember the story of American prospectors who were cold because they had thin trousers and Levi Strauss used the sailcloth which he transported to make stronger ones.

-A mix of prospector and explorer could be Christopher Columbus?

-Well, it's not my favourite.

-Why not?

-The modern story says that Columbus sailed from Spain on August 3rd, 1492 to the west. After ten weeks, a sailor saw a bird. They had arrived to land and they named the island San Salvador. So he discovered that the Earth was round.

-And?

-The modern story must say that Columbus was the last European to discover the American continent. Native American lived in the continent and science has demonstrated that Vikings had arrived to America before Columbus because there are some inscriptions older than his arrival.

-What is your next project?

-I'm working in a Christmas story, a tribute to Charles Dickens and his Christmas Carol. 

-What's the worst nightmare of a writer?

-I suppose every writer has his/her own demons, his/her own Frankenstein. I hate sharks. It's an interesting animal because they mainly live in the oceans; they eat fish, seals, crabs and sea birds. We can find more than 250 types of sharks and my worst nightmare is swimming near one of them.

-You're a writer. Can you write a slogan for The Bonds?

-Open happiness.

-Thank you very much, M.José Bond.

-You're welcome.

We must always remember with gratitude and admiration the first sailors who steered their vessels through storms and mists, 
and increased our knowledge of the lands of ice in the South. 

Roald Amundsen