The festival program is here!

Dear literature lovers!

4 December is here, and so is the festival programme! 

The geographical spread is phenomenal, if I may be modest – from the Faroe Islands to the United Kingdom, from Kenya to Switzerland, from the United States to Albania, from Guatemala to Zimbabwe, North Korea to Ukraine, from South Korea to Denmark, from South Africa to Azerbaijan from China to Chile, from Sápmi to Spain, and of course – from Oslo to Bergen, hehe.

In these dark political times, I feel like shouting a literary hurrah for the world and for the world coming to Bergen in week 6 of 2026 – an otherwise ordinary, Norwegian, grey weekday week that is transformed into a week of celebration! The breadth of culture, language, religion, genres, political standpoints and economic worldviews is greater than ever before in the festival's history.

And more than ever, I believe this is exactly what we need. We must meet face to face, we must listen, and we must read. The greatest danger is self-censorship. We must not be afraid. We must not be silent. You are welcome to disagree with what is said on stage, you are welcome to think it should not be on stage – but come, come and listen, come and ask questions, come and discuss! 

Newly written texts, newly written music

The opening day is always special – beginning first thing in the morning with LitFestUng, where secondary schools and colleges are invited to exclusive author meetings where the young people themselves ask the questions. And then, in the evening, the grand opening, which this year is followed by two world premieres: First, a reading of three newly written, personal essays on the festival theme of “betrayal” by Afua Hirsch from the United Kingdom, Eduardo Halfon from Guatemala and Wanjiru Koinange from Kenya, followed by a concert featuring newly composed music by Bergen’s own John Olav Nilsen, also on the theme of “betrayal”. 

Are you a little down on your luck?

Single tickets, festival passes, day passes, guaranteed tickets, BT discounts – 

Here is a mini guide to ticket types:

• We know that cultural events are expensive for many people, and we hope that with the new ticket category ‘down on your luck’ we can make the festival accessible to more people. So if you are a student and/or a bit broke, you can choose this trust-based ticket category with a fixed price of NOK 90 for all events during the festival. 
• Festival passes and day passes: We have a limited number of festival passes for sale, as well as day passes for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. NB! With a festival pass, you can attend all programme items as long as they are not sold out. If you want to secure your place, you must purchase a:
• guarantee ticket for NOK 25 or 50 (for the more expensive programme items). The reason for this is that we cannot otherwise know when it is full. If you have a single ticket, you do not need a guarantee ticket in addition.
• We also sell tickets per event. Subscribers to Bergen Tidende receive a 25% discount on these, as well as on festival passes.

No LitFestBergen without good partners

We have our many brilliant partners to thank for much of this year's programme, ranging from individuals who contribute ideas and suggestions, to publishers, organisations, institutions and, not least, our fantastic colleagues at the House of Literature in Bergen. Some contribute with participants, some with money, some with ideas, with contacts, with organisation – I won't mention individual names, but you can see the list on our website.  We are grateful and happy for everyone who is with us. Many thanks to all!

From Russian espionage to North Korean propaganda

And now, take a look at this year's programme for the Bergen International Literature Festival for non-fiction and fiction 2026: We have talks, we have films, we have poetry, short stories, essays, novels, banned and legal books, banned and legal languages, newly released and hundred-year-old books.  It will be about fathers, a lot about fathers, about Hamsun and Holberg, Fosse and Knausgård's Bergen, Dylan on a boat, Faroese poetry, Azerbaijani feminism, Russian espionage, Kenyan library history, North Korean propaganda, Eve in Christianity, Islam and Judaism, the Norwegian arms industry, Norwegian poverty and Norwegian wealth, it will be about desire, sex and adultery – and much more besides.

And – do you remember our article about the project ‘Literature for Inclusion’ You will get to see the results during the festival!

LitFestBydel

And that's not all! We will soon be launching our pilot project LitFestBydel, in which a number of organisations, institutions, small and large groups, and not least the district libraries, will set up their own programmes around the city's districts, all under the festival umbrella. The aim is to lower the threshold for participating in the festival, for reading, for getting involved in the local community and participating in democracy, and to make Bergen bubble with literature. More on LitFestBydel coming soon!

On behalf of the festival administration,

Teresa