What is a novel? (postponed to autumn 2021)

What does “truth” mean in a novel? Even since Karl Ove Knausgård’s My Struggle series first appeared, a debate has raged over what a novel actually is and whether any limits exist to what you can write about others in this format. How does the Norwegian novel genre compare with the British-American memoir tradition or the French autofiction genre? And have Norwegian views about the novel changed, or is it the same debate but just with new authors?

LitFestBergen stages a discussion between Sandra Lillebø, who published the controversial but highly praised Tingenes tilstand, Aftenposten critic Ingunn Økland and Nordic literature professor Eirik Vassenden. Their conversation will be moderated by novelist Tore Renberg.

This event will be in Norwegian.