LitFestBergen 2023 – programme catalogue

HOW TO BUY A TICKET?

• Follow the ticket link at litfestbergen.no to TicketCo.no.

• Before the festival: buy a ticket in Boksalongen at the House of Literature.

• During the festival: buy a ticket at the festival office opposite Boksalongen/the House of Literature at Østre Skostredet 10.

Are you a student? We have big student discounts on all programme sessions. Remember your student ID.

You receive 25 percent off with BT fordel.

You received 20 percent off with the purchase of five or more full price tickets.

The festivalpass is sold on ticketco.no and in Boksalongen. You will need to exchange this for your armband at the festival office. You can also buy the festivalpass at the festival office.

Please look out for corrections and changes. Get your updated information at litfestbergen.no

Opening hours, festival office:

Monday 6 february 11:00–15:00

Tuesday 7 february 11:00–15:00

Wednesday 8 february 11:00–22:00

Thursday 9 february 11:00–22:00

Friday 10 february 11:00–22:00

Saturday 11 february 11:00–22:00

Sunday 12 february 11:00–14:00

A FERTILE FURY

Teresa Grøtan Festival Director

Hjørdis Losnedahl Managing Director

We celebrate the fifth edition of the Bergen International Literary Festival of fiction and non-fiction. The theme for this year is rage.

The word can be dark and scary, and it can in a way reflect the uncertain times and world that we live in. Simultaneously, the word can indicate energy and defiance. Rage can be a source or result of passion, envy, conflict, madness and humour. Climate change, feminism, racism, trans, bokmål, nynorsk, animal rights - for some these trigger enormous anger. Why? We want to investigate and explore rage from a literary, artistic, political and scientific perspective. Rather than a constraint, the theme serves as an inspiration to discover, and talk about, literature and society.

On 14 February 2019, the day 30 years after the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued his fatwa – death sentence – on the author Salman Rushdie, the poet Hissa Hilal from Saudi Arabia stood on stage during the opening of the very first edition of LitFestBergen and cried while she read her own poem ‘Evil Fatwa’.

Only months ago, Rushdie was attacked and badly injured. Since Hissa Hilal was in Bergen, she has been threatened into total silence in her home country. These attacks make us furious, but it is a rage

that gives us strength, courage and the will to continue on: LitFestBergen is located in a peaceful corner of the world. It not only gives us the opportunity, but also the duty to let voices that are silenced in their homeland be heard. Perhaps the rage we feel can open up the truth, to see the world more clearly than before?

We will never be a festival that seeks consensus. We will never be a festival that seeks only one answer. We look at people and the world with an empathetic gaze. We listen without Interruption. We listen for the beautiful. We seek the truth in poetry and not in the artillery of propaganda.

LitFestBergen is a festival for literature that faces the world. It is a festival where the known meets the unknown. It is a festival for literature that writes itself into the core of what it means to be human: Literature that reflects fear and powerlessness, but also laughter and love. We let politics meet poetry, society meet art and art meet the world.

We can feel furious, and yes, perhaps strange to ourselves in today’s world. Literature can perhaps give us answers to difficult questions: some of them frightening, some comforting, others liberating – but they are all friendly, as literature welcomes us to read.

Administration

Teresa Grøtan, Festival Director

Hjørdis Losnedahl, Programme Advisor, Managing Director

Yngve Knausgård, Communication/Programme

Maxine Elma Padayachee, Administrative Assistant

Ingrid Serenne Aakre Kibsgård, Festival Assistant

Board

Birthe Kåfjord Lange, Chair

Mah-Rukh Ali

Arne Selvik

Anne Karin Sæther

Gunnar Sørbø

Norwegian Advisory Board

Pedro Carmona-Alvarez

Jan H. Landro

Sandra Lillebø

Eirik Vassenden

Gunnhild Øyehaug

International advisory board

Tishani Doshi (India)

Alisa Ganieva (Russia)

Leila Guerriero (Argentina)

Daniel Medin (USA/France)

Jonny Steinberg (South Africa/Great Britain)

Ece Temelkuran (Turkey)

OPEN ING

OF LITFEST BERGEN

Welcome to the official opening of the fifth Bergen International Literary Festival for Non-Fiction and Fiction. Rage – the theme of the festival – will set the tone at the House of Literature.

There will be the artistic contributions of poet Kjartan Hatløy and musician Arve Henriksen, dub poet Mutabaruka from Jamaica, author Gunnhild Øyehaug, who has written a greeting for the five-year-old festival, and actor Reny Marie Gaasand Folgerø, who presents a raging monologue written by the festival author Monica Isakstuen. There will be speeches from the Commissioner for Culture Eduardo Andersen and festival director Teresa Grøtan. Presenter: Hjørdis Losnedahl.

18.30–19.15

AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT)

NORWEGIAN

19.30–20.30

AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT)

NORWEGIAN

FROM IDENTITY TO RAGE –5 YEARS OF LITFESTBERGEN

Every year LitfestBergen bases its programme around a central theme. In the first festival year 2019 the debate was about what role identity should play in literature and in politics currently in Norway, while in February 2023, among other things, we look at how such identity struggles can lead to rage, which is the theme for the year. What has changed in public debate, and how has increasing polarisation found expression in Norwegian and international literature and culture?

Teresa Grøtan has been festival director since the start. She meets the director of the Freedom of Expression Commission and Norwegian PEN, Kjersti Løken Stavrum, and the culture editor of Bergens Tidende, Jens Kihl, for a debate on what has been happening in literature and in the world over the past five years. The conversation is chaired by the author Sandra Lillebø, who is a member of the festival’s advisory board

THE LISTENING POST: LITERATURE IN SPA NISH

19.30–20.00

OLAV H. HAUGE FREE

The Listening Post is LitFestBergen’s free offer to those of you who perhaps need a break from the festival programme – but would prefer not to leave it altogether. Find a spot, lean back and listen to two of our Spanish-language authors read from their books.

With Gabriela Wiener (Peru) and Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel (Equatorial Guinea)

HOW IS RAGE TRANSLATED?

Crónicas is a Latin American literary genre which is now being translated into Norwegian for the first time. What kind of genre is it? How does a country’s language and literature influence how the emotion of rage is translated? Does one get as furious in Norway as one gets in South America, for example? One of the texts in the anthology Cronica, True stories from Latin America is about how the Peruvian journalist Gabriela Wiener managed to become a donor and sell her own eggs to Scandinavian couples.

Wiener and the translator and editor of the anthology, Bente Teigen Gundersen, discuss language, genre and rage in Latin America with the journalist and Spanish translator Helene Hovden Hareide.

11.00–12.30

190/80 (STUDENT)

LITERARY CITY WALK

Henning Bergsvåg , a poet and literary scholar from Bergen, invites the international authors and other foreigners, native and visiting citizens of Bergen, on a literary city walk through Bergen’s distinctive alleyways, accompanied by factual and non-factual stories about the city and its inner, and outer, literary life.

Meet up outside the Bergen House of Literature. Bergsvåg will speak English during the tour.

THE LISTENING POST: NORDIC LITERATURE

13.30–14.00 ALVER FREE

The Listening Post is the LitFestBergen’s free offer for those of you who perhaps need a break from the festival programme – but would prefer not to leave it altogether. Find a spot, lean back and listen to three of the festival’s Nordic authors read from their books.

With Charlotte Weitze (Denmark), Petra Rautiainen (Finland) and M. Seppola Simonsen (Norway).

IRAN SEEN FROM NORWAY: BEING AN EXILED AUTHOR AND ACTIVIST

14.00–14.45

AUDITORIET FREE NORWEGIAN

When the poet and feminist activist Asieh Amini had to flee Iran in 2009, she was invited to Trondheim as part of the City of Refuge scheme. She has established herself as a writer in Norway, but follows developments in her homeland closely. In September last year big demonstrations broke out in Iran. Asieh Amini has done what she can to support the revolt from a distance in the hope that the regime will finally fall.

What is the situation in Iran like now, and what is it like to engage in activism from exile? What happened when Amini herself had to flee, and how has it been to start a new life in Norway?

Ingeborg Kværne works at Norwegian PEN as a City Of Refuge Coordinator, and talks about how Norwegian PEN works to help the City of Refuge authors to be presented and heard so they can continue their work from Norway. The two meet the editor of the journal Prosa, Merete Røsvik, for a conversation.

NEW NORWEGIAN VOICES

Although the three Bergen-based authors Sandra Lillebø, Olaug Nilssen and Eivind Riise Hauge are are well known to the Norwegian public, none of their books have been translated into English.

Olaug Nilssen, who has published numerous critically acclaimed novels, writes about daily life with a severely developmentally challenged son and the struggle to get much needed public assistance.

Sandra Lillebø has published two poetry collections and a novel. In her most recent novel she thematises her impossible relationship with her mother, who is clearly mentally ill without having been given an official diagnosis. Eivind Riise Hauge has published both fiction and non-fiction books, and also works as a librarian at the Bergen prison. In his most recent novel he has an inmate tell his own story.

These three authors will be interviewed by Daniel Medin and afterwards there will be time for questions from the audience.

14.30–15.30 ALVER 190/80 (STUDENT)

15.15–16.00

AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

Thomas Seltzer is an American with his roots in the prairies of Kansas and Texas, and he lived there with his Norwegian mother and American father for the first six years of his life. When they moved to Norway he missed America, dreamt of America, loved America. The concern of the past few years after the election of President Trump and the storming of the Congress on 6 January 2021 has made Thomas Seltzer unhappy and worried about his homeland. Why is it that the American Dream has now become a nightmare?

In the book Amerikansk Karmageddon – mitt fordømte fedreland (American Karmageddon – my damned motherland) Seltzer tells us about his own family history and with it the USA’s history. He meets the USA expert and scriptwriter Gjermund Stenberg Eriksen for a discussion about why the country has become what it has now become.

UKRAINE’S NEIGHBOURS

There is war in the heart of Europe, and the continent is not as it once was. Moldova and Belarus both border the Ukraine. While Belarus is allied with Russia, Moldova sent an application for admission to the EU at the beginning of the war. Once they were both, along with the Ukraine, part of the Soviet Union.

The Belarusian poet Valzhyna Mort and the Moldovan author Tatiana Ţîbuleac both write about their personal and political experiences growing up in the Soviet Union, while they have lived as adults in a new country. How do they view the situation in their neighbouring country and its possibilities? And how does one talk about war when fear and rage dominate the discussion? Mort and Tibuleac will have a conversation with the literary researcher at UiB, Martin Paulsen.

THE UNTAMED CHILD

Matias Faldbakken is a visual artist who made his debut in 2001 as an author. In his latest novel Stakkar (Poor Soul) we meet the farm lad Oskar, who discovers a mysterious creature in the forest. He catches the creature and takes it home with him. Little by little he discovers that the creature is a human being, a human being he develops a very special relationship with.

Stakkar is a unique, energetic and creative mixture of love story, Bildungsroman, state-of-nature story and big city tale. Matias Faldbakken meets the author Marit Eikemo for a conversation about art and literature.

16.15–17.15

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT)

FOOTBALL: POWER AND POWERLESSNESS

On the football pitch aggression is punished with a yellow or a red card. But how can we punish the illegalities that happen outside the pitch? When LitFestBergen happens, the World Cup in Qatar will be over, a World Cup much criticised for breaches of human rights and corruption. Nations like Russia, Saudi Arabia and China use football for political purposes. Sheiks, Gulf states and other wealthy actors buy up English football clubs, many for purposes of ‘sportswashing’. Accusations of sportswashing have been brought up against Norwegian football too. Despairing fans feel powerless. What are we to do?

Nils Henrik Smith has written the book Raseri og entusiasme (Rage and Enthusiasm) – a title that sums up the feelings of many football fans. He meets the football journalist, Philip McNaulty, for a conversation moderated by Henning Bergsvåg.

After the conversation there will be time to ask questions from the audience.

PEOPLE AS NATURE

16.45–17.30 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

The novel Rosarium by Danish author Charlotte Weitze has been called sprawling. It is about a botanist who is searching for a very special rose, a boy who may be a girl, a pair of siblings hiding in a large forest in Poland during the war against Russia who draw nature into their bodies. Nature is the basis of human existence, yet we struggle to make the right decisions on behalf of nature and ourselves. Charlotte Weitze will be in conversation with author and climate adviser Anne Karin Sæther about humans, nature and literature.

MOVIE SCREENING: THE WRITER FROM A COUNTRY WITHOUT BOOKSTORES

Equatorial Guinea has the longest-serving president in the world. Teodore Obiang has been in power ever since he staged a coup in 1979. The West African country is spoken of as the most closed country on the African continent, with hellish prison conditions and a near non-existent opposition. What is it like to be a writer in such a country? And what makes a writer risk everything, including his own life, to protest against such a government?

Author Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel decides to return for a visit to the land he fled from, despite the risk to his safety. LitFestBergen screens the documentary ‘The Writer from a Country without Bookstores’, directed by Marc Serena , who followed the author on his dangerous trip home.

WINNER MEETING: NORA DÅSNE S

22 July 2011 is a watershed date in history. No Norwegian will forget where they were and what they were doing that day of the attack on Utøya. Afterwards everyone was shaken, angry or sad until everyday life returned little by little.

Nora Dåsnes won the Nordic Council’s Children’s and Young People’s Literature Prize in 2022 for her graphic novel Ubesvart anrop (Unanswered Call). Here the horror and the time after the attack are described through the eyes of Rebekka. She wasn’t on Utøya, and she didn’t know anyone who was there, but she is frightened and just as much affected by the attack. She starts high school that same autumn, but is unable to forget or shut what happened out of her mind. Meet the award-winner Nora Dåsnes in conversation with the author Robin van de Walle

17.15–18.45 AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT)

17.45–18.30

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

18.00–18.30

ALVER

100/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

FURIOUS LECTURE : LANGUAGE

Is queer language liberation or provocation? In this lecture linguistic expert Kristin Fridtun will talk about the language of queers, queer language, letter confusion and (alleged) furious activists and anti-activists. Does a special language exist among queer people that non-queer people don't understand? Why are some people provoked by the use of pronouns such as ‘s/he’ or ‘they’?Fridtun thinks queer language exists and has a lot going for it, and will explain why here.

LIFE IN LIMBO

19.00–19.45

AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT) ENGELSK

In the novel The Gurugu Pledge African refugees, all escaping their own personal trials, are stuck in a small enclave on Mount Gurugu in Morocco with hopes of making it to Europe. Their plight reflects Equatorial Guinean author Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel ’s own current state – having been forced out of Equatorial Guinea after a hunger strike to protest the regime, seeking refuge in Spain, the former coloniser of his native land.

Ávila Laurel, in conversation with the journalist Helene Hovden Hareide, reflects on the first-hand accounts that influenced his novel and his own personal history about being a person stuck in Limbo.

OPEN MIC

LitFestBergen is a festival where the familiar meets the unfamiliar, and established literature engages in a dialogue with the very latest writing.

We invite new-fledged and more experienced authors from Bergen and the rest of the world to take the microphone. Use the festival’s open offer this evening and let your voice be heard.

Register at info@litfestbergen.no

FURIOUS FATHER

Martin Eia-Revheim grew up with a violent and alcoholic father. In the spring of 2022, the book Å sette sammen bitene (Putting the pieces together) was published. In it Eia-Revheim goes into several incidents and writes about how they have affected him.

Clemen Saers, a teacher who was attacked and nearly killed by a pupil at his workplace, has written the book Lærer på liv og død (Teacher for life and death) in collaboration with the author Knut Lindh. In the first part of the book, he talks about growing up as one of fourteen children who had to deal with his violent and aggressive father.

Martin Eia-Revheim and Clemen Saers have both had successful careers and started their own families. How have their experiences growing up with a violent father affected them? They meet in conversation and reflection on violence and fathers and sons with the journalist Kjersti Mjør.

20.00–20.45 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT)

FURIOUS AT MOTHER

Furious dark humour permeates the novel Sommeren mamma hadde grønne øyne (The summer when my mother had green eyes) by Moldovan author Tatiana Țîbuleac (translated by Sindre Andersen). The novel conveys the experiences of ‘hyphenated Europeans’ – people who have travelled from Eastern European to Western countries. It is morbid and cynical as well as furiously witty – but also self-deprecating and self-hating of family, upbringing and eastern European culture. It would be difficult to find a book where hatred of the mother is so fiercely expressed. Țîbuleac talks to Ingunn Lunde, professor of Russian literature, and the translator Sindre Andersen.

MUSIC AND AGGRESSION

20.00–20.45 AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT)

What role does aggression play in music, and how is it played out on stage and in halls, especially in black metal and various hardcore genres? Does it release feelings of which we are deprived in a tame and disciplined modern life, or is it just theatre and playacting?

The British author and photographer Dayal Patterson has written several books about the history of the black metal genre, and throughout a long musical career Thomas Seltzer has certainly seen and heard most things. The two meet for a dialogue with Tor-Otto Mjelde, known from radio programmes like ‘Pyro’ and ‘Stjernepose’.

RAGE IN LIFE AND LITERATURE

Is rage a cleansing force? Or does it lead to catastrophe and destruction?

With examples from literature, world events and human life and activity the philosopher Lars Fr. Svendsen, the author Monica Isakstuen and the literary researcher Janne Stigen Drangsholt discuss the place of rage in life and in literature. The conversation is chaired by the author Olaug Nilssen.

RELAXATION

After heavy literary discussions about rage, we would like to invite you to an audio shower of poetry and music.

In 2016 and 2017 the poet Kjartan Hatløy and musician and composer Arve Henriksen produced an album called Eg gjekk ned til denne fjorden og Noko driv på. The combination of Hatløy’s nature poems and Arve Henriksen’s beautiful enveloping sound curtain shows the kinship between the genres and how they complement each other.

This alliance between poetry and music has only been performed once before, in Hatløy’s home village Hyllestad in Ytre Sogn. At LitFestBergen they will have musicians Thomas T. Dahl (guitar) and Terje Isungset (percussion) accompanying them.

21.00–22.00

AUDITORIET 190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

21.00–22.30

OLAV H. HAUGE 300/150 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

12.00–12.20

KUNSTHALLEN FREE

KVEN POETRY

Who are the Kvens and what is Kven literature? In the past few years there has been a greater awareness of the Kven minority. The poetry collection Hjerteskog (Heart Forest) with the subtitle Kvenske dikt (Kven poetry) is M. Seppola Simonsen ’s debut and a ground-breaking piece of work about Kven language and identity, nature and loss.

On Friday 10 February, M. Seppola Simonsen will read from the poetry collection in the Galleri at Bergen Kunsthall – a great opportunity to have a different kind of lunch break, and to take in the exhibitions at Bergen Kunsthall.

In collaboration with Bergen Kunsthall.

FURIOUS LECTURE: RAGE

12.15–12.45

ALVER

100/80 (STUDENT)

NORWEGIAN

Rage is the theme of LitFestBergen 2023. Climate change, feminism, racism, trans people, Bokmål, Nynorsk, animal rights – for some people these are ‘red rags’ that trigger violent rages. At the same time the word bears energy and defiance within it, and can be a source of passion, craziness, humour and energy. It can also be dark and scary, and thus reflects the uncertain times and world we live in.

But what is rage? Is it anything more than bad temper? Are we more furious now than before? In this causerie Professor of Philosophy Lars Fr. Svendsen will explain what this universal emotion is.

THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD

Historian, editor and author Iain MacGregor recently published the book The Lighthouse of Stalingrad. Based on research in both German and Russian archives – letters, eyewitness accounts, memoirs – he retells the story of how Russian forces besieged by Nazi soldiers, fought them off. Through these intimate accounts MacGregor provides a detailed picture of a pivotal moment in the Second World War which some believe turned the tide.

In conversation with Professor Martin Paulsen, MacGregor will discuss his fascination with this period and how the information he uncovered relates to the current Russian war on Ukraine and Europe in general.

THE LISTENING POST:

MENGISTE, TEMEL KUR AN AND MAI AL-NAKIB

The Listening Post is LitFestBergen’s free offer to those of you who perhaps need a break from the festival programme – but would prefer not to leave it altogether. Find a spot, lean back and listen to two of the festival’s international authors read from their books.

With Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia), Ece Temelkuran (Turkey) and Mai Al-Nakib (Kuwait).

14.00–14.45

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT)

THE FAMILIAR UNKNOWN

The British poet Zaffar Kunial’s poetry revolves around the question of origin and identity. Through his exploration of language, he makes the everyday mysterious, while the unknown can suddenly become clear.

Within a short period Zaffar Kunial has become a well-recognised poet with many prizes in his pocket including the Windham Campbell Prize for Poetry, which he won in 2022 for his poetry collection Us. He will meet poet and author Rasma Haidri in conversation.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY – FOSTERING A SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN SCHOOLS

NORWEGIAN

In the summer of 2021 Northing and Tekstallianse in collaboration with various local actors arranged the East Asian Culture Week for 40 children from 16 different schools in Bergen at the Møhlenpris Oppveksttun. The project was inspired by the campaign Stop Asian Hate, and the goal was to build knowledge, understanding and love for the East Asian culture as part of a positive integration project.

As a basis for this project, we asked ‘How can the school contribute positively to spreading knowledge of and respect for different cultures and people, and what role can the literary and cultural sphere play in achieving this’?

With Ben Yu (Northing), Anna Svingen-Austestad (Associate professor in art pedagogy at KMD),  Eduardo Andersen (Commissioner for Culture in the Bergen municipality), moderator Leïla Rezzouk (Papillon).

THE RADICALISED

Author Anne Bitsch has written a book about the Benjamin Hermansen case and currently Den norske skyld (Norwegian Guilt) about the court case against Philip Manshaus, who killed his own adopted stepsister Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen before his attack on the Al-Noor Islamic Centre. Bitsch has researched why extremism appeals to young single men who find each other on the Internet through hate groups. Jørgen Watne Frydnes has taken on the difficult job of re-establishing Utøya after the terror attack in 2011, and has written the book Ingen mann er en øy (No man is an island) about what happened on the island.

Øyvind Strømmen has written the book Giftpillen (The poisonous pill) about conspiracy theories, what they are and why they are so dangerous, and he talks to Bitsch and Frydnes about how the far right has developed in Norway and the rest of the world.

WITHSTANDING THE STORM

Journalist and author Ingeborg

Senneset is a fearless and outspoken participant in social debate. She commentates in newspapers, on television, radio and podcasts and particularly through social media, where she often goes head to head with internet trolls. Senneset has for many years been open about her own anorexia and has recently published a book Ordbok for overlevelse (Dictionary of survival) that gives advice to young people who have a poor self-image and self-esteem. Senneset knows that every time she speaks out, whether it is about vaccines, mental illness or freedom of expression, she will be met with hateful anger. What is it like to stand in the path of such a storm? What strategy does she implement to withstand the attacks? Senneset meets the profiled presenter and journalist Hilde Sandvik, herself a voice with strong opinions, for an interview.

After the interview, there will be time for questions from the audience.

16.00–16.45

FRIDAY

15:00–17:00

SATURDAY 12:00–15:00

SUNDAY 12:00–15:00

FREE

PEN POSTCARD CAMPAIGN AND FESTIVAL CAFÈ

Norwegian PEN and LitFestBergen invite you to send a greeting to authors, journalists and bloggers who have been imprisoned or are being threatened and persecuted worldwide. The cards have been created by PEN members and authors seeking refuge in Norway through Icorn.

In Zinken Hopp we will also have a festival café.

In collaboration with Norwegian PEN.

FURIOUS LECTURE: SCHOOL

16.15–16.45

OLAV H. HAUGE

100/80 (STUDENT)

NORWEGIAN

‘It doesn’t hurt to die, thinks Clemens Saers as his pupil has a death grip on his neck’. The quotation is from the book Lærer på liv og død (‘Teacher for Life and Death’) which Clemens Saers has written with the author Knut Lindh.

Clemens has been a teacher for all grades for 50 years. Saers experienced a lack of support from his employer after his assault. Saers believes that this is a symptom of how schools have developed after the reforms of '94 and '97. The reforms have meant that teachers do not dare establish the necessary boundaries or object to untenable conditions in the classrooms. It has also led to a sharp decline in recruitment to the teaching profession.

In this lecture Clemens Saers talks about his experiences throughout a long career in schools.

PROSE LOUNGE: TYPOS!

The author Kristin Fridtun have written a book about being annoyed of grammatical and typographic errors – and no one gets more angry or more annoyed than proofreaders. Journalist, author and formerly cultural editor Jan H Landro are a linguistic geek and he has a great linguistic engagement. Professor Gunnstein Akselberg has through various seasons of Eides Språksjov on NRK, explored pedagogically speaking, the Norwegian language's nunces and twists and turns. There is still more to dissect and yet surprising, not everyone is so concerned with writing correctly.

(How many mistakes did you find? Did you get angry? Do you know that it can trigger rage?)

RAGE AS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE

The political commentator and author Ece Temelkuran recently published a book called Together: A Manifesto Against the Heartless World.

Temelkuran believes that rage belongs to the polarizing voices, the demagogues, those who do not want openness and democracy. In addition, people’s rage is deliberately misused in the media to create attention and thus profit.

Temelkuran calls for a new sort of morality that is based on dignity and kindness. Temelkuran meets the head of the Freedom of Expression Commission, Kjersti Løken Stavrum, to talk about how we can contribute to more trust and less polarisation in society.

17.00–17.45 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT)

THE ILIAD WITHOUT ANGER

In 2011 the British poet and professor of literature Alice Oswald published the long poem Memorial, which she calls ‘an excavation of Homer’s Iliad.’ Here she has removed the actual narrative drive from the poem, the rage of Achilles, to give every single one of the 200 dead warriors poetic life. Oswald wants to dig out the poem’s enargeia, its effective power. The result is a long poem that turns away from the bloody anger towards a commemoration of the dead.

Oswald meets the literature professor and author Janne Stigen Drangsholt for a conversation about Memorial.

FESTIVAL SESSION: WHAT IS LITERARY QUALI T Y?

190/80 (STUDENT)

What do international festivals look for when they invite authors and artists to their programme? How do international literary jurys select their winners, and what do publishers seek in new authors? Have the ideals for what constitutes literary quality changed in the past five years?  Director Nick Barley of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, director of Aké Arts and Books and publisher of Ouida Books in Nigeria, Lola Shoneyin and director Michael Kelleher of the Windham Campbell Prizes, meet professor of Nordic literature Eirik Vassenden for a discussion.

GETTING THE RAGE DOWN ON PAPER

Men and women sit in Norwegian prisons having committed crimes when they were furious. In prison many of them feel frustration and anger over the situation they have ended up in.

In collaboration with LitFestBergen, author Annette Mattsson, a teacher of writing in Bjørgvin Prison, and the author Eivind Riise Hauge, librarian in Bergen Prison, are arranging a writing course for the inmates with the festival theme ‘rage’. You can read some of the texts from the writing course in the festival’s programme catalogue and web page, and two of the course participants are coming to LitFestBergen to talk about what it means for them to be able to express themselves on paper.

STRIFE AND SOLIDARITY

Although some of us can get irritated by the consequences of a pilots’, teachers’ or workers’ strike, many people will agree that the strike is an indispensable resource in relations between employers and employees. The author and political adviser Jonas Bals has written the book Streik! (Strike!) about the meaning strikes have had for working life in Norway for 150 years. Jonas Bals meets the author and politician Mimir Kristjanson for a conversation about how these labour disputes have formed Norway as a nation, and how civil strikes can be a resource in the battle for the climate or against dictatorship and repression.

19.15–20.15

AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT)

NORWEGIAN

SHOULD RAGE BE CONDONED?

The world-changing organisation Exctinction Rebellion believes that we should revolt and resort to dramatic action. Author Hilde Kvalvaag has herself been a member of this organisation and has participated in such actions. Where are the boundaries for taking extreme action in serving a cause you believe in?

Animal rights activist Norun Haugen has been undercover for several years and has uncovered extensive abuse and violations of the regulations for proper animal treatment on farms, as documented in her film Griseindustriens hemmeligheter (Secrets of the pork industry) and in an upcoming book. Can any action whatsoever be condoned when it comes to exposing something that you believe is wrong?

Kvalvaag and Haugen will be in conversation with journalist Hilde Sandvik about how far they are willing to go for a cause they believe in and whether they can find alternative methods to taking extreme action to gain attention for their causes.

Afterwards, there will be time for questions from the audience.

POETIC PUNK GALA

From ugly and furious, low-pitched and gloomy to high-pitched and laudatory – poetry covers all the extremes of human existence. Ten poets meet this evening in a lyrical world that is off the map. The programme director for the evening will be the poet Henning Bergsvåg.

On stage, there will be the british poet Alice Oswald, who through her 11 poetry collections combines English traditional nature poetry with history, mystery and lyricism. Brynjulf Jung Tjønn has written many novels for both children and adults, and in 2022 he released a poetry collection called Kvit, Norsk Mann (White, Norwegian Man). Maja Lee Langved writes about themes like culture, racism and identity, on the basis of her own adoption from South Korea to Denmark, and since her debut has published four poetry collections. Øyvind Rimbereid has long distinguished himself as one of the most distinctive voices in Norwegian contemporary poetry, recently with the poetry collection Hvit hare, grå hare, svart (White Hare, Grey Hare, Black) from 2019. Valzhyna Mort comes from Belarus and writes poetry both in English and Belarusian. Her latest poetry collection, Music for the Dead and Resurrected, was singled out by The New York Times as one of the best books of poetry from 2020. Bergen-based Eira Søyseth is a poet and poetry editor. Her first poetry collection Farget flekket nå was published in 2022. From Jamaica comes dub poet, musician and radio host Allan Hope, better known as Mutabaruka . His poetry collections include Outcry, Sun and Moon and The Book: First Poems. British Zaffar Kunial debuted with the poetry collection Us in 2018, and with his latest collection, England’s Green, he invites the reader to rethink the concepts of word, place and language. Finnish Pauli Tapio debuted in 2017 with Varpuset ja aika. His latest collection Tyhjä, suuri ja öinen, published in 2021, takes on the challenges and possibilities of the future. Sarah Zahid from Oslo debuted as a poet in 2018. Last year she received rave reviews for the poetry collection Bjørnholt vgs.

There will be a short break halfway through.

19.30–21.15

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT)

19.15–20.00 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

LITERARY DATE

What poem does the Director of the Bergen International Festival, Lars Petter Hagen, know by heart? Has the coming director of the National Theatre, Solrun Toft Iversen, ever been in love with a literary character? What poem or book passage will the two give each other as presents?

We’ll get the answers to these questions and more when Lars Petter Hagen and Solrun Toft Iversen meet for a literary date. Television host Trond-Viggo Torgersen sets the scene for a fun talk about cultural top people’s literary love and hate relationships.

RIVALRY ON AND OFF THE PITCH

20.30–21.15 AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT)

Sports journalists Phil McNulty and Jim White have written a book about why the inhabitants of the cities Liverpool and Manchester have disliked each other across generations, class, gender and ethnicity. This conflict is fuelled to a great extent by the rivalry between the football clubs Manchester United and Liverpool FC, and by way of ten legendary football matches, interviews with veterans of the game like Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville, together with fans, referees and many other involved parties, we get a glimpse of how and why the conflict has developed.

Phil McNulty from Liverpool and Jim White from Manchester have collaborated on the book and will be in conversation with journalist and football enthusiast Davy Wathne.

After the conversation, there will be time for questions from the audience.

CONVERSATION IN THE NIGHT: PER PETTERSON

In the 1990s NRK broadcasted the now legendary programme series ‘Conversations in the Night’ in which Alf van der Hagen interviewed some of our most central contemporary authors.

LitFestBergen takes up the thread and makes a space for deep-delving dialogue about life and literature with Per Petterson.

21.30–22.30 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

11.45–12.30

AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT)

MY LANGUAGE IS MY BIRD

When the Taliban retook Afghanistan in August 2021, one of the numerous freedoms that was curtailed was freedom of expression, and the plight of journalists and authors was to have their voices totally silenced. This hit women writers particularly hard. What kind of emotions does this silencing arouse?

My Pen is the Wing of a Bird is a new collection of short stories from female Afghan writers, providing a window into life in a country ravaged by war.

The session begins with a reading of the short story An imprint on the Wall by  Masoma Kawsary  translated into Norwegian by Johanne Fronth-Nygren. With actor  Nasrin Khusrawi . Directed by Linda Gathu.

The Afghan writer Masoma Kawsary, author of one of the short stories from the collection, meets poet and translator Parwana Fayyaz in conversation about fiction and reality. Kristin Skare Orgeret will chair the conversation.

In collaboration with Bergen Dramatikkfestival

GREAT MEN AND TORN-DOWN STATUES

A statue is made of stone or of bronze and is meant to stand for several generations. Often it is a statue of ‘a great man’. Who were these men who were to be remembered forever, and why were the statues set up? And why do some people get furious at the sight of them now, so furious that they tear them down? According to the British historian and screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann, history doesn’t disappear with torn-down statues – it is made.

Alex von Tunzelmann has written the book Fallen idols about pulled-down statues all over the world – for example the statue of Stalin in Budapest (1951–1956), of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad (2002-2003) and of Cecil Rhodes in Cape Town (1934–2015). She meets Michelle Tisdel, social anthropologist and research librarian at the National Library, for a conversation.

12.00–15.00 ZINKEN HOPP FREE

12.15–13.15 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT)

WHAT IS POETRY ?

Why do some people choose to express themselves through poetry?

LitFestBergen invites four poets to reflect over their own poetic practice, what poetry is and what the advantages of the poetic genre are. We meet British Alice Oswald, Finnish Pauli Tapio, Belarusian Valzhyna Mort and British Zaffar Kunial.

The author Sivert Nesbø will chair the conversation about the power of poetry.

ADOPTEES

13.00–13.45

AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

Many books have been published in the last couple of years about being adopted into Scandinavian countries. While some do not think about their biological origins, others who do, have neither felt at home in the country they grew up in, nor in the country of their birth – they speak of a ‘belonging in a vacuum’. They also speak of the racism that they have experienced throughout their entire lives, even from close family.

One of the first books on the theme was Hun er vred – Et vidnesbyrd om transnasjonal adoption (She is angry – Testimony on transnational adoption), published in 2014 by Danish author Maja Lee Langvad. The book was also translated into Korean. The title of Brynjulf Jung Tjønn ’s poetry collection White Norwegian man is the answer to the question adults ask children: ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’. In conversation with author Anne Bitsch, they speak in more detail about transnational adoption.

THE AFRICAN COUNTRY THAT DEFEATED EUROPE

Ethiopia is the only African country, that some consider, never to have been colonised, despite being occupied after fighting off the onslaught of an Italian invasion twice. Set in the period before the second Italo-Ethiopian war (1935–1936), The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste follows the young woman Hirut and her emergence as a warrior. It is clear that Hirut embodies all the resilience and strength of her country during this period. And like the country, she maintains her independence and autonomy. In conversation with Professor of Comparative Literature Daniel Medin, the American-Ethiopian author Maaza Mengiste speaks about Ethiopian history and the novel’s nuanced portrayal of war.

RAGE IN SØRFJORDEN

Leander Djønne’s debut novel Oskespiralen (The Ash Spiral) takes place at a fjord among steep mountains. In an archaic time with mankind in a close physical relationship, with nature we meet a family torn with violence and rage.

The protagonist, Halvard Bergstø, in Lars Ove Seljestad’s novel Eitranes has experiences from the same landscape, but in a quite different culture. Eitranes is the name of a settlement, but Bergstø feels the curse of Eitranes when he returns to the industrial town where he grew up.(Eitranes also meaning furious in Norwegian). The authors meet Jan H. Landro for a conversation.

A FURIOUS STATEMENT

In Kathrine Nedrejord ’s latest novel Forbryter og straff (Criminal and Punishment) described as a raging monologue, we meet an author who is waiting for the upcoming trial of her rapist. Who is this man? Why did he do it? She becomes obsessed with him and with writing about him. She tries to find out who he is, and what he was thinking when he attacked her. And what about the punishment that has he has inflicted on her – that she now has to live with – the trauma, the terror and the rage? Journalist and author Monica Flatabø wrote a book : En sånn jente: En dokumentar om voldtekt (Such Girls: A documentary about rape) where she investigates the attitudes to rape, especially amongst the youth. These two authors meet in conversation.

13.00–13.45

OLAV H. HAUGE 190/80 (STUDENT)

14.00–14.45 AUDITORIET 190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

14.00–14.45 ALVER 190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

14.15–15.00

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT)

LIFE IN THE ARCHIVES

There are many histories locked away, stacked, catalogued and archived. How does an author go about uncovering them? Through archival exploration, the researcher and writer of All Rise: South Africa 1910–1948, Richard Conyngham, as well as the editor, historian and author of The Lighthouse of Stalingrad, Iain MacGregor, have unearthed significant stories from history that have often been overlooked.

Michelle Tisdel, a social anthropologist and research librarian at the National Library of Norway, speaks to both authors about their process of retrieval, the motivation for their research and how they uncovered the stories.

THE WORLD ON SATURDAY: A NEW WORLD ORDER?

15.00–16.00 AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

Many political trends in various countries seem to indicate that democracy is perceived as being problematic, and two thirds of the world’s population today live in authoritarian regimes or failing democracies. These countries are instead turning towards China or countries in the Middle East which hardly have any democratic traditions. Russia still plays an essential role despite many countries condemning Russia’s attack on the Ukraine. Going forward, is the best to be hoped for a cold peace?

The journalist and news anchor Mah-Rukh Ali has written many books about political developments in the Middle East. In the book De moderate folkepartienes fall i Europa (The fall of the moderate parties in Europe) the author and historian of ideas Tarjei Skirbekk discusses how optimism turned to pessimism after the Cold War, while the journalist and author Halvor Tjønn published a book in 2020 called Det russiske imperiet (The Russian Empire).

They meet editor and media manager Kjersti Løken Stavrum in conversation about old and new alliances.

RAGE AND ELEGY

How can one characterize the poet Georg Johannesen? Alfred Fidjestøl’s biography about Georg Johannesen, Innerst i hjertet har jeg min forstand was published in the autumn. The title of the book is taken from Johannesen’s poem Ferie (Holiday) from 1959: The skeleton is inmost /In every man /And what do I have inmost in the heart? / Inmost in the heart I have my reason.

Øyvind Rimbereid and Johannesen were both members of the Rhetoric forum at the University of Bergen. Rimbereid was asked by Johannesen to read the manuscript for what would later become the poetry collection Ars Vivendi. Rimbereid has also published an essay about the poet and has collected quotations in book form. The critic Margunn Vikingstad chairs the conversation with Rimbereid and Fidjestøl about the poet Georg Johannesen, and more generally about temperament in poetry.

RAGE – FERTILE FURY?

Just as rage can be destructive as an instigator of violence, it can also be the driving force for constructive change, activism and creative endeavour. Jamaican Rastafari poet, radio host, musician and educator Mutabaruka has built a career on righteous rage. Nimmi Gowrinathan , an American researcher and author of Radicalizing Her: Why Women Choose Violence, has tapped into the rage stirring female fighters and radicals.

Mutabaruka and Gowrinathan meet British historian, author and screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann to discuss the constructive, educative and creative aspects of rage.

15.15–16.00

16.15–17.15

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT)

NORWEGIAN

CHOLERIC QUARTET

Angry critics have existed since there have been newspapers and book reviews. Their ‘hatchet jobs’ are perceived in two ways – some see them as ill-willed and aggressive, while others admire them for their entertainment value and confrontational spirit. From time to time critics are undoubtedly enraged by the books they review. Choleric Quartet will discuss – and perhaps demonstrate – how the rage of the choleric critic can function either as productive and inspiring or destructive and transgressive.

Participants will be the critic and translator Preben Jordal, critic Thula Kopreitan and the critic and professor Frode Helmich Pedersen. Professor Eirik Vassenden will chair the conversation.

GRASS ROOTS REBELLION

16.30–17.15 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT)

What means does the layman have to resist oppressive laws and legislation? South African writer and researcher Richard Conyngham’s graphic history All Rise – Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa 1910–1948 provides a glimpse of rage and rebellion in South Africa even before the state adopted the racist apartheid regime.

In conversation with journalism professor Kristin Skare Orgeret , Conyngham will discuss his research in South African court archives, where he uncovered these stories. They will also discuss Conyngham’s unusual choice of medium – the graphic novel – and his close collaboration with six South African artists and illustrators.

FREEDOM AND LITERATURE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

With the slogan ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ the people are demanding a new society in Iran – a society where women are not treated as second-class citizens. What role can different forms of literature like poetry, journalism or books play in manifesting change? And will this inspire women in other Middle Eastern countries to take up the fight for more freedom?

Mai Al-Nakib is an author and cultural politics researcher from Kuwait, Ece Temelkuran is a political commentator and author from Turkey, Asieh Amini is a poet and journalist from Iran, living in Norway. They will be in conversation with literary scholar at UiB Kari Jegerstedt about women’s lives and literature in the Middle East.

FORGOTTEN CHAPTER

During the second world war, Finland was allied with Germany against the Soviet Union. For a long time, it was claimed that there had been no Nazi prison camps in Finland, and that no Finns had participated in the deportation of Jews. This myth has since been debunked. The remains of 200 such camps have been discovered in Northern Finland.

Petra Rautiainen has used this information as material for her debut novel Et land av snø og aske (Land of Snow and Ashes), which has been translated into Norwegian by Thomas Brevik Kjørstad. Rautiainen also writes about how the Sámi people were marginalised both during and after the Second World War. She will be in conversation with British historian Iain MacGregor.

18.00–19.00

ALVER FREE NORWEGIAN

MEET THE AUTHORS OF THE FUTURE

What is happening at Skrivekunstakademiet (Academy of creative writing) in Hordaland at present? You can find out when this year’s students invite you to an hour in the performative space. The students will be reading their own texts. Come to an exclusive meeting with the authors of the future!

HAGESALONGEN

18.00–19.15

ZINKEN HOPP FREE

Hagesalongen (The Garden Lounge) happens regularly at Amalie’s Garden at the Bergen Public Library, where Erlend Liisberg and Erik Bjerck Hagen "summarize and discuss contemporary literary debates, current books and other events in the country's literary life".

As part of LitFestBergen, it moves to the Zinken Hopp at the House of Literature, where a lush and down-to-earth festival edition will be made and recorded as a podcast on stage.

ASK THE AUTHOR!

18.30–19.30

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

The myths about authors are many, and now you can help to clear them up! From Stavanger to Bergen the authors Mímir Kristjánson and Janne Stigen Drangsholt have come to answer your questions about how they work, what they eat and drink and how they seek inspiration. Frode Helmich Pedersen leads this hunt for the truth about matters large and small, and invites the audience to participate in a detailed search for what it's really like to be an author.

Send your questions now to info@litfestbergen.no.

GUERILLA AND FEMINIS M

In her novel The Shadow King Ethiopian Maaza Mengiste portrays the role that female soldiers played in the war between Ethiopia and Italy and what it was like to be a woman during that war. American Nimmi Gowrinathan, who is of Sri Lankan descent , has researched female guerrilla fighters for two decades. Her book Radicalizing her appeared in 2022, and in it was what is possibly a surprising statistic: women make up 30% of the guerrilla fighters in the world. According to Nimmi Gowrinathan, these women have been misunderstood, and she points to her research on women in Sri Lanka, Eritrea, Syria and Colombia over the past 20 years.

Mengiste and Gowrinathan engage in a conversation with law and human rights expert Cecilie Hellestveit about gender, power and war, and why women choose violence.

18.45–19.45 AUDITORIET 190/80 (STUDENT)

20.00–20.45 ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT)

TEACHING NIETZSCHE IN KUWAIT

After having lectured on Nietzsche in a philosophy course, the history professor in the novel An Unlasting Home is accused of blasphemy. While awaiting a possible death sentence, the professor reflects on her past and the women who shaped her.

Kuwaiti author Mai Al-Nakib emphasises women’s feelings of unexpressed rage against their lack of autonomy in a patriarchal state like Kuwait. Mai Al-Nakib will meet the professor of history Anne Katrine Bang in a discussion about the grandmothers who inspired Awhen religion took precedence over the law, and how a changing Kuwait affects the women who live there.

After the conversation, the floor is open to questions from the audience.

NORWEGIAN POETRY SLAM CHAMPIONSHIPS

190/80 (STUDENT)

In 2022 LitFestBergen took over from ForeningenLes! and is now official organiser of the Norwegian finals in slam poetry! During Autumn and Winter, the semi-finals will be held all over the country, and on 11 February the finalists from Tromsø, Trondheim, Stavanger, Bergen, Oslo, Østfold and inland Norway will gather again at Litteraturhuset in Bergen to battle for the grand cup.

Slam Poetry is a direct and spontaneous experience of poetry that lies in the intersection between poetry reading, stand-up and rap. The first such event was organised at a jazz club in Chicago in 1984 by the construction worker and poet Marc Smith, who wanted to make poetry more accessible and inclusive. Interaction with the public, the mood and the temperature of the space are crucial and the performance is equally as important as the words.

QUIET FRIENDS

Japanese people call themselves Wajin (和人), which means peaceful or calm people. The Japanese couple Chie and Rei Ito create tranquil stories on recycled and handmade Wa-shi (Japanese paper). They do not advocate for any morality with their stories – on the contrary, they leave the readers to decide what to take away from these visual narratives. They believe complex, multifaceted and engaging stories often appear to be very simple.

Chie and Rei will talk to architect Ben Yu about spirituality and worldview and how their ideas are influenced by ancient Chinese philosophy and primitive Buddhism.

In collaboration with Northing.

PEN POSTKORTAKSJON

12.00–15.00

ZINKEN HOPP PEN POSTCARD CAMPAIGN

12.00–12.45

ALVER

190/80 (STUDENT)

12.00–15.00

ZINKEN HOPP FREE

12.00–12.45

OLAV H. HAUGE

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN

PROSE LOUNGE: ABORTION

Roe v. Wade. Abortion committee. ‘If you can cope with one, you can cope with two.’

The questions – When does life begin? Week 12? Week 18? Internationally we have seen a setback in the right to free abortions, as demonstrated by the overturning of the Roe Versus Wade ruling by the Supreme Court in the USA. In Norway, the question about abortion has again been opened for huge debate and disagreement.

According to Grethe Fatima Syéd and Kjersti Sandvik the public conversation in Norway has been ineffective. In 2021 they have written a book Hva vi snakker om når vi snakker om abort (What are we speaking about when we speak about abortion?). Syéd and Sandvik meet with gynaecologist and member of the Abortions Appeal Board in Norway Ole-Erik Iversen in conversation about abortion and why it creates such rage from all sides. The conversation with be led by author and journalist Sandra Lillebø.

Afterwards, there will be time for questions from the audience. In collaboration with NFFO.

MOVIE SCREENING: DER SONNENFUCHS/THE S UN FOX

13.00–14.15 AUDITORIET

190/80 (STUDENT) NORWEGIAN/GERMAN

In 2017 the German film director Frank Wierke made the film Die Sonnenfuchs about the nature poet Kjartan Hatløy. In 2014 and 2015 he visited Hatløy at home in Salbu in Hyllestad Municipality. Wierke says that the film is a search for clues, a dialogue about life and the conditions of writing. It is about how biography, history, nature, landscape and philosophy flow together and are concentrated in poetry.

INFURIATINGLY GOOD RHETORIC IN BERGEN

The Bergenser(inhabitant of Bergen) Frank Aarebrot believed there is no limit to what a Bergenser can argue over. Historian and Bergenser Morten Hammerborg , has written the scholarly book Bergenseren about what makes a Bergenser a Bergenser. The author and Bergenser Alfred Fidjestøl published a book in the autumn about the Bergenser Georg Johannesen – a man who was always full of love as well as contempt for Bergen. Critic and Bergenser Preben Jordal discusses with Hammerborg and Fidjestøl what makes a Bergenser a Bergenser and particularly what Bergen rhetoric really is.

14.00–14.30

NORWEGIAN

FURIOUS LECTURE: REVENGE

Revenge: Reckoning, getting even and retribution. Revenge makes us think about barbarism, medieval vigilante justice or authorised public executions as entertainment as well as a means of legitimacy. It makes us think about bloody warfare, fatwas, the mafia and drug cartels, but also about parodies, B-movies, westerns or director Quentin Tarantino’s exaggerated and parodic meta-meta collages. The nature of revenge is a downward spiral. It does not require closure, on the contrary it perpetuates injustice. In this series, author and musician Pedro Carmona-Alvarez deals with revenge in literature, culture and society.

OLAV H. HAUGE 100/80 (STUDENT)

CLOSING SESSION OF LITFESTBERGEN 2023 : QUIZ!

We end the programme with a literature quiz which, perhaps not surprisingly, is themed ‘Rage in Literature’. The Quiz Masters will be the festival administration, who draw on various literary greats from all over the world. Everyone on the winning team will receive festival passes to LitFestBergen 2024. We also have many other fine prizes. We promise both easy and challenging questions, and an great atmosphere. Come join us to celebrate this year’s festival and let's put the rage in the rearview mirror!

Come by yourself, or with your friends.

14.30–15.30

YOUTH PROGRAMME 2023

8–10 FEBRUARY

RACISM AND IDENTITY

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND POLARISATION

NATURE AND CLIMATE

The full Youth-Programme in English is available at litfestbergen.no/en

MINI PROGRAMME 2023

SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY

FALL IN LOVE WITH FEISBUKK

Ole Henrik Risøy Solheim, Hans Sande, Julie Keyers, Jakob Helgheim

12.00–12.40

BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

THE DRUMS OF ALL THE KINGS WITH RAYMOND AND BEATHE

Raymond Sereba, Beathe Frostad

13.00–13.40

BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

ANNA FISKE: ANGER! JOIN US AT THE LIBRARY OF EMOTIONS

Anna Fiske

14.00–14.40

BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

CONCERT WITH MARTIN HAZY

Martin Hazy

15.00–15.40

BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

WORKSHOP AND ACTIVITIES

11.00–15.00

BERGEN PUBLIC LIBRARY

SUNDAY 12 FEBRUARY

ALL THE WORLD’S FAIRY-TALES: GERMANY

Eva Pfitzenmeier

13.00–14.30

ALVER

The full Mini-Programme in English is available at litfestbergen.no/en

LEE LANGVAD

MAJA

ASHA ABDULLAHI

GUNNSTEIN AKSELBERG MAI AL-NAKIB MAH-RUKH ALI ASIEH AMINI

EDUARDO ANDERSEN

ANNA SVINGEN-AUSTESTAD JONAS BALS ANNE BANG

NICK BARLEY IDA BENONISEN HENNING BERGSVÅG ANNE BITSCH

PEDRO CARMONA-ALVAREZ RICHARD CONYNGHAM THOMAS DAHL

LEANDER DJØNNE JANNE STIGEN

DRANGSHOLT NORA DÅSNES

MARTIN EIA-REVHEIM MARIT EIKEMO

JUAN TOMAS AVILA LAUREL

SANDRA LILLEBØ

ERLEND LIISBERG

INGUNN LUNDE

IAIN MACGREGOR

ANNETTE MATTSSON

PHIL MCNULTY

DANIEL MEDIN

MAAZA MENGISTE

TOR-OTTO MJELDE

KJERSTI MJØR

VALZHYNA MORT

MUTABARUKA

KATHRINE NEDREJORD

SIVERT NESBØ

OLAUG NILSSEN

KRISTIN SKARE ORGERET

ALICE OSWALD

DAYAL PATTERSON

MARTIN PAULSEN

FRODE HELMICH PEDERSEN

FALDBAKKEN

GJERMUND STENBERG ERIKSEN MATIAS

PARWANA FAYYAZ

ALFRED FIDJESTØL MONICA FLATABØ

RENY M. GAASSAND FOLGERØ

KRISTIN FRIDTUN JØRGEN WATNE FRYDNES

NIMMI GOWRINATHAN

PER PETTERSON

EVA PFITZENMEIER

PETRA RAUTIAINEN

LEÏLA REZZOUK

ØYVIND RIMBEREID

MERETE RØSVIK

CLEMENS SAERS

HILDE SANDVIK

KJERSTI SANDVIK

BENTE TEIGEN GUNDERSEN ERIK BJERCK HAGEN

LARS PETTER HAGEN ALF VAN

DER HAGEN RASMA HAIDRI

MORTEN HAMMERBORG EIVIND RIISE HAUGE

HELENE HOVDEN HAREIDE KJARTAN HATLØY NORUN HAUGEN CECILIE HELLESTVEIT ARVE HENRIKSEN

MONICA ISAKSTUEN TERJE ISUNGSET OLE-ERIK IVERSEN SOLRUN TOFT IVERSEN CHIE ITO REI ITO KARI JEGERSTEDT PREBEN JORDAL MASOMA KAWSARY MICHAEL KELLEHER JENS KIHL

THULA KOPREITAN

MIMIR KRISTJANSSON

NASRIN KHUSRAWI ZAFFAR KUNIAL HILDE KVALVAAG INGEBORG KVÆRNE JAN H. LANDRO

LARS OVE SELJESTAD

THOMAS SELTZER

INGEBORG SENNESET

M. SEPPOLA SIMONSEN

LOLA SHONEYIN

HENRIK SMITH

TARJEI SKIRBEKK NILS

KJERSTI LØKEN STAVRUM

LARS FR. SVENDSEN

GRETHE FATIMA SYED

ANNE KARIN SÆTHER

EIRA SØYSET

PAULI TAPIO

ECE TEMELKURAN

TATIANA ŢÎBULEAC

MICHELLE TISDEL

HALVOR TJØNN

BRYNJULF JUNG TJØNN

ALEX VON TUNZELMANN

TROND-VIGGO TORGERSEN

ROBIN VAN DE WALLE

EIRIK VASSENDEN

MARGUNN VIKINGSTAD

DAVY WATHNE

CHARLOTTE WEITZE

JIM WHITE GABRIELA WIENER

SARAH ZAHID BEN YU GUNNHILD ØYEHAUG