Independent Nordic & Baltic journalism

Northern stories, told from North America.

The Northern Voices is an independent platform for the culture, ideas, and people of the Nordic and Baltic diaspora — reported and written across the United States and Canada.

The Northern Voices community gathering
Community first Built with the artists, readers, and contributors who make the diaspora a living culture.
  • 2024Founded as an independent, self-funded publication.
  • 11+Nordic, Baltic, and North Atlantic communities covered.
  • US & CAReported across North America, rooted in the North.
  • IndependentEvery story answers to its readers — no one else.

Our story

A publication built by the community it covers.

The Northern Voices began with a simple conviction: that the Nordic and Baltic diaspora deserved a serious, independent home for its stories — not a footnote in someone else's.

Founded in 2024 by Valev Laube and sustained as a self-funded effort, TNV started in New York's creative circles and grew through the people who joined in. Today it is a widely read platform for the Northern diaspora across North America — a place where heritage and contemporary culture meet on equal footing.

Our readers come from the communities of Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Finns, Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, and Icelanders, and from Åland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Together they form one of the most quietly influential cultural networks on the continent — and TNV exists to give it a voice that carries.

Independent by design

We publish across news, arts, culture, society, and science, with independently curated features and opinion. Editorial independence isn't a slogan here — it's the structure. Every article is reviewed for accuracy and fairness, and reflects the view of its author, never that of an organization or interest group.

Where we're headed

We're building tools that serve the community as much as inform it: spotlights for emerging talent, a weekly newsletter, and support for collaborative, community-driven projects. The publication is young, but the ambition is long-term — to make Northern stories permanent in North America.

Join us. Read, share, pitch a story, and help build the record of a culture that's very much alive.

What we stand for.

Five principles drawn from the cultures we cover — and the standard we hold every story to.

  • 01ToleranceRoom for difference, and for disagreement done well.
  • 02KnowledgeCuriosity backed by careful, honest inquiry.
  • 03HumanityDignity kept at the centre of every story.
  • 04EmpathyListening first, and listening longer.
  • 05SerenityA measured voice in a loud world.

Pitch us

Have a story we should know about?

Community news, cultural milestones, artist profiles, essays, ideas — if it matters to Nordic and Baltic life in North America, we want to hear it.

Open submission portal

Browse the publication

Choose your section.

Move through The Northern Voices by theme — reporting, culture, artist profiles, expert analysis, and conversations from across the Nordic and Baltic world.