In 2025, The Queer Gaze continues to showcase queer literary voices such as Eli Levén, Hanna Johansson, Felicia Mulinari, Burcu Sahin, Priya Bains, Jude Dibia, and Nioosha Shams.
THE QUEER GAZE has been Kulturhuset Oceanen’s literary series since 2023.
The term “The Male Gaze” was coined by Laura Mulvey to describe the gaze that views women as objects for heterosexual male pleasure. As a response, “The Female Gaze” emerged, seeking to disrupt this dynamic and position women as observers. With the program series The Queer Gaze, Oceanen further develops these terms by highlighting how the queer gaze deconstructs all gender-based power dynamics, allowing authors to act as subjects and tell their own stories.
We kicked off 2025 on Valentine’s Day with a joyful evening curated by Sanna Samuelsson. She encouraged unfiltered writing and invited Aya Kanbar, João Florêncio, and Sara Hallström to read pleasurable texts, and moderated a conversation between Hanna Johansson and Nino Mick about the presence—or absence—of sex in literature.
11/6 – The Queer Gaze curated by: Hanna Johansson
Gay wrongs
For the final evening before summer, we have invited Hanna Johansson to curate. The evening will be long and light as we celebrate Gay Wrongs!
Because lezbehonest, as much as we honor gay rights, in a world increasingly shaped by authoritarianism, we must remember that queer people have always been the grit in the machinery. Therefore, we welcome you to an evening dedicated to gay wrongs—our queer villains, our most shameful taboos, our loudest protests.Hanna Johansson is a critic and the author of two novels, “Antiken” (2020) and “Body Double” (2025), a lesbian thriller.
Edith Hammar is an artist and author of two award-winning graphic novels, Homo Line (2020) and Portal (2023).
Yiğit Karaahmet is a journalist and writer. He made his debut in 2021 with the gay love triangle drama “Deniz Ne Kadar Güzel”, which was published in English in May as “Summerhouse”, translated by Nicholas Glastonbury.
11/9 – The Queer Gaze curated by: Felicia Mulinari
The Curse
The evenings are still bright and warm. Hope and visions of another future still shimmer.
Felicia Mulinari invites you to an evening in the spirit of curses, promising a ceremony filled with sorrow, anger, and powerlessness. From helplessness and desperation arise thoughts of justice and revenge. Together, through language and imagination, we will give the oppressors what they deserve.Felicia Mulinari is a poet and playwright who debuted with the poetry collection “Det som inte kan utplånas“ (2019). Her latest novel “Ackumulation av ursprung“ was published earlier this year.
17/10 – The Queer Gaze curated by: Burcu Sahin & Priya Bains
TIME
Burcu Sahin is a poet who has written the poetry collections “Broderier” (2018) and “Barnsäng” (2022), about motherhood, labor, and the body’s memories.
Priya Bains is a poet who debuted with the poetry collection “Med restene av mine hender” (2021), about heritage, migration, and the fractures of language.
14/11 – The Queer Gaze curated by: Jude Dibia
Jude Dibia is an author who has written “Walking with Shadows” (2005), “Unbridled” (2007), and “Blackbird” (2011). His work explores gender, class, and queer lives in Nigeria.
5/12 – The Queer Gaze curated by: Nioosha Shams
Coming Out, Rebinding
An evening of queer derailments, primeval bodies, and primal rage. We play with language, desire, and the body in an attempt to break out of narratives that no longer carry us, and to rebind what needs to be cared for and recreated.
What is it that we come out of? A closet, a constrictive narrative, a body? And what do we want to rebind, with new words, different movements, and queer gazes? Through conversation and poetry, we create a space where we can explore and simply be who we are—utterly fabulous queers.
Nioosha Shams is an author and poet who previously wrote “Om det regnar i Ahvaz“ (2020) and “Teshne” (2024). Her new poetry collection “Ur”, about decay, community, and the collapse of the world, will be published in July.
Acknowledgements:
The Queer Gaze 2025 is made possible with the support of the Swedish Arts Council, the Swedish Academy, and the City of Gothenburg.