Poetic punk gala

From ugly and angry, through muted and miserable, to joyous and jubilant – poetry spans every extreme of human existence. Six poets meet this evening in a lyrical world off the map. Topographer for the evening is translator and poetry-lover Eira Søyseth.

Participants include Kathleen Jamie, Scotland’s fourth Makar (national poet). She writes about nature, culture and landscapes, and is particularly known as a poet for the prize-winning collections The Tree House and The Overhaul. Toronto-based Britta B. has made her mark as an important voice in spoken word, and received the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award in 2021. 

Nils-Øivind Haagesen is topical with the book Sangria i parken. He produced the poetry collection Det uregjerlige in 2020, and has earlier been nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for God morgen og god natt. Versatile author Stig Holmås issued the poetry collection Innom in 2019. He made his literary debut as a lyric poet in 1970 with the politically committed Vi er mange. Iraqui Selma M. Yonus has been living in Stavanger as an ICORN resident since 2009. She has published three poetry collections in Arabic. The bilingual Vuggesang for liten kriger (“Lullaby for little warrior”) is her first book in Norwegian. Dutch author Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer lives in Genoa, and works in a vast array of genres. He has written numerous poetry collections and is one of the most prominent poets in the Netherlands.

The event will be in English and Norwegian.