Åpningstale LitFestBergen 2026
Festivalsjef Teresa Grøtans åpningstale i Auditoriet Trond Mohn, onsdag 4. februar 2026:
What is freedom to you?
This question was posed to the great American musician Nina Simone in a 1968 TV interview.
Nina Simone looked up at the interviewer, her expression one of suspicion, or maybe even anger. She paused. Then she said:
I’ll tell you what freedom is to me. No fear. I mean really, no fear.
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The first time I saw this interview, I was surprised at her answer. She thought of freedom as a feeling? Not freedom in terms of political rights?
Now, I understand what she meant.
By being fearful, we lose our ability to feel truly free.
And fear is the feeling some world leaders want to instil in us all. For us to be too fearful to realise their profound betrayal.
Betrayal as in agents with masks. Betrayal as in the protruding ribs of a starving child. Betrayal as in waking up in the debris of what used to be your home. Betrayal as in life imprisonment for speaking truth to power.
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What does this betrayal do to us as a society? And what does betrayal do to us as human beings?
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This burning emotional cocktail of disbelief and outrage is an ancient theme in world literature, from the Greek tragedies to contemporary fiction.
Betrayal, this year’s festival theme, is something I assume you have all felt – either as a result of somebody's action against you, or through an act you yourself committed.
In this year’s festival, we examine betrayal in literature, in politics, in society and in the family.
We do this by bringing together cultures, languages, religions, political opinions and economic views. We set up panels that bring out more than what each individual author and book can do. Sessions that challenge us, that make us see ourselves, each other and the world in a different light.
It is about togetherness. About discovering together. Creating stories together. It is about questioning assumed truths together. Challenging myths together. Feeling alive together. It is about experiencing a sense of hope together.
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In the interview from 1968 – a terrible year in world history, just like this has been so far – Nina Simone elaborated on her thoughts of what freedom is.
Feeling free, she said, can be likened to being in love, or how a child feels in a natural state.
The place she felt free, she told the reporter, was on stage, while performing.
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This stage shall always be free.
We will never be a festival that seeks consensus or searches for one only answer. We will never censor ourselves or let anyone else censor us. We will never bow to pressure.
Because we believe in the truth of poetry, rather than in the artillery of propaganda. We offer a stage to voices that are silenced and books that are banned.
The Bergen International Literary Festival presents literature that writes itself into the core of what it means to be human today. We look at people and the world with an empathetic gaze. We listen without interruption. We seek the beauty of humanity and of the world.
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Betrayal broke my belief in hope a long time ago. Literature became a life necessity for me, as I know it is for many of you. Literature provides the balm of my soul, the fuel I need to defy the sharp emotional pain of betrayal.
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Each year, during these five festival days, hope is again sparked in me.
I want the Bergen International Literary Festival to bring hope to you. Hope – and a belief that betrayal can be overcome, for each one of us, and for all of us, together.
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Thank you.