Throughout 2024, we will continue our program series with invited curators from across the Nordic region.
It’s time for another autumn of queer literary conversations, readings, performances, and much more! We begin with an evening co-curated by the artist Nadia Maghder and the Danish poet Elias Sadaq: on colonialism and djinns, followed by an evening on the theme of queer translation curated by the founder of Sweden’s only LGBTQ bookstore, Lou Mattei. In November, we return to Denmark to explore new kinships together with Maja Lee Langvad, and conclude the autumn with an evening curated by Theodor Hildeman Togner, who, together with guests, invites you to a night about how queers talk.
Below you will find information about all the evenings. Welcome to Oceanen!
September 13: Nadia Maghder & Elias Sadaq
Can black magic and djinns really be used as tools for liberation?
The djinn Aicha Kondisha’s resistance against the Portuguese occupation in Morocco has been mystified and reduced to black magic, not only by the Western world. On September 13, poet Elias Sadaq will be in conversation with artist Nadia Maghder at Oceanen, diving deep into anti-colonial visions of alternative realities and their magic.
Elias Sadaq is an author and playwright. In March 2024, DJINN—a poetry collection about obsession and desire—was published by Gyldendal. Before that, he was involved in the production Fremmedlegionen, which was staged in 2023 at The Danish National School of Performing Arts in Aarhus, where he is also a student.
Nadia Maghder works with text, video, and installation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in literary composition from HDK-Valand and a master’s degree in fine arts from Konstfack. Maghder contributed to Cycle Press’s latest anthology Skräck och Avsky and recently exhibited at Galleri Antics in Stockholm. Previously, she has written for the film Blomster and in magazines such as Glänta and Bänken.
More info about the evening here.
October 11: Lou Mattei (Founder of PAGE28) Translate/Distort/Reflect/Transcend
Welcome to an evening centered on queer translation! Together with Jennifer Hayashida, Imri Sandström, and Yolanda Aurora Bohm Ramirez, we will focus on translation as a queer artistic practice, discuss how queers more broadly translate their experiences into literature, and offer multilingual readings.
Lou Mattei is a playwright, writer, and translator based in Malmö. She is trained in literary translation at Biskops Arnö Folk High School and participated in Riksteatern’s theater residency 22/23 with her play Badrummet. Lou holds a bachelor’s degree in literature and French from Lund University and is one of the founders of the queer bookstore and cultural venue PAGE 28. She is also one of the initiators of the newly established queer literary prize Prisma.
Yolanda Aurora Bohm Ramirez, born in 1987 in Växjö and raised in Skogås outside Stockholm, is a poet, lecturer, comedian, and translator. She made her debut in 2018 with the poetry collection Ikon, and in 2021, she was awarded Natur & Kultur’s translation scholarship.
Imri Sandström is an artist, researcher, and author. She grew up in northern Sweden and now lives in rural Skåne. She defended her Ph.D. in 2019 with Tvärsöver otysta tider / Across Unquiet Times, a bilingual dissertation in literary composition about the histories and languages of Västerbotten and New England, accompanied by Susan Howe’s poetry. In 2024, her poetry collection Hela tiden was published by Ellerströms Förlag.
Jennifer Hayashida, born December 24, 1973, in Oakland, is a Swedish-American poet, artist, and translator of Swedish-language literature, as well as a doctoral candidate in artistic practice at the University of Gothenburg. She has translated works by, among others, Ida Börjel, Athena Farrokhzad, Fredrik Nyberg, Katarina Taikon, and Eva Sjödin into English.
November 22: Maja Lee Langvad NEW KINSHIPS
Maja Lee Langvad has invited author C.Y. Frostholm for a conversation based on their latest books TOLK and Til den ven jeg aldrig har kendt (To the Friend I’ve Never Known). What these two authors have in common is that they both write candidly about their own lives—about family, homosexuality, and love. At the same time, their books challenge the traditional understanding of family and attempt to create new kinships and connections, not least through writing. The evening will feature conversations, readings, and a Q&A.
Maja Lee Langvad was born in 1980 in Seoul and raised in Denmark. She is one of the most interesting voices in contemporary Danish literature and made her debut in 2006 with the poetry collection Find Holger Danske. In 2016, the much-acclaimed She Is Angry, a furious testimony about being adopted, was published in Swedish translation by Albert Bonniers Förlag. Days with Galloping Heart Palpitations is also available in Swedish, published by Ellerströms.
C. Y. (Cyf) Frostholm is an author, visual artist, and translator, born in 1963. He has published poetry and prose since 1985. Most recently, Til den ven jeg aldrig har kendt (To the Friend I’ve Never Known) was published on September 3, 2023, and was nominated for both the Politiken and Montana literary prizes.
December 13: Theodor Hildeman Togner Queer Dialogue – How Do Queers Talk?
Theodor Hildeman Togner, Anna Nygren, and Hanna-Linnea Hannu will read dialogues from their novels together and have a conversation about writing queer dialogue.
Theodor Hildeman Togner was born in 1992 and lives in Stockholm. He made his debut with the prose-lyrical poetry collection Out (Lesbisk Pocket, 2015) about girls, flowers, and dysphoria, which was nominated for the Borås Tidning Debutant Prize. In 2022, he published the poetry collection Kärnor on it-lit. This year, he is releasing his first novel, Innan Livet (Before Life), published by Lesbisk Pocket.
Anna Nygren is an author, poet, and playwright, born in 1990 and living in Gothenburg. She has published several books with it-lit and Lesbisk Pocket and works as a lecturer at HDK-Valand.
Hanna-Linnea Hannu, formerly Rengfors, is a poet, author, and folk high school teacher. She has written the books Närhetsprincipen, Candy, Tillsammans i mörker (Together in the Dark), and Ingen dal djup nog (No Valley Deep Enough), all published by it-lit.”
A special thanks to:
The Queer Gaze has been made possible with support from the Swedish Arts Council, ABF (Workers’ Educational Association), and the Ideell Kulturallians (Non-Profit Cultural Alliance). The 2023 program was conducted in collaboration with SAQMI, the Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images, and QRAB, the Queer Movement’s Archive and Library. The 2024 events are organized in collaboration with the Women’s Folk High School in Gothenburg, where students from the writing course “Your Silence Will Not Protect You” are invited to read their work on Oceanen’s stage.