Festival Programme – English Entries

23. May
23. May 17:00 - 18:30
Verdensteateret // 180

DEBATE: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS

It is understood that the climate crisis is the most important challenge of our time. At the same time, many feel numb and paralyzed in the face of a widely de...

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23. May
23. May 19:00 - 20:30
Maihaugsalen // 380

OPENING PERFORMANCE

The theme of this year’s literature festival is The World, and this will truly be represented in the opening performance. From different corners of the globe, ...

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24. May
24. May 09:00 - 12:00
Kulturhuset Banken Festsalen // Free

OPENING CONFERENCE BOLOGNA 2026

Norway will be the Guest of Honour at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in 2026 - the world's most important meeting place for children and young adult’s litera...

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24. May
24. May 10:00 - 10:45
Verdensteateret // Free

THE 13-STOREY TREEHOUSE

Welcome to Andy and Terry's treehouse! But it’s not a typical treehouse – it’s the world's most exciting tree house with 13 floors, a bowling alley, a see-thro...
Free

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24. May
24. May 11:00 - 11:50
Lillehammer Kunstmuseum // 180

MYTH AND REALITY

The Turkish writer Burhan Sönmez grew up in a town where his mother was one of the main oral storytellers. Andrea Lundgren comes from northern Sweden, a part o...

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24. May
24. May 13:00 - 13:50
Festivalteltet // 180

BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL

Join three young indigenous representatives in a conversation about their commitment to their own ethnic group's culture and traditions, as well as how the env...

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24. May
24. May 14:00 - 15:00
HINN Auditorium A // Free

ABOUT THE SITUATION IN UKRAINE

Guest lecture by Oleksandra Matviychuk (Ukraine), Center for Civil Liberties....
Free

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24. May
24. May 15:00 - 15:50
Kulturhuset Banken cafeen // 180

CLUB POETRY

Club Poetry offers readings by some of the greatest poets from Norway and the world. Take a seat and enjoy an amazing listening experience. The readers - Hauku...

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24. May
24. May 15:00 - 15:50
Kulturhuset Banken Festsalen // 180

THE VOICES OF WAR

The war in Ukraine continues to affect innocent people and has forced more than five million Ukrainians to flee the country. Human suffering has reached levels...

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24. May
24. May 15:00 - 15:50
Lillehammer bibliotek // 180

THE WEIGHT OF MEMORIES

German author Judith Schalansky has written an original catalogue of things that have disappeared and the traces they have left behind. In her latest novel Bre...

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24. May
24. May 15:30 - 15:55
Studenten // Free

READING AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

British author Claire-Louise Bennett and Simon Stranger from Norway have both had meteoric careers as writers. Neither of them can imagine a life without books...
Free

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24. May
24. May 16:30 - 16:45
Studenten //

STRONG STATEMENTS: CLIMATE

Helena Gualinga (Ecuador/Finland) is 20 years old and has spoken at COP25 in Madrid and the World Economic Forum in Davos. She has been on the cover of Vogue a...

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24. May
24. May 17:00 - 17:50
Søndre Park // Free

PEOPLE’S MEETING FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Last year, the public meeting, presented by the Norwegian Festival of Literature, World Expression Forum and Musikk i Innlandet, brought together 1,000 people ...
Free

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24. May
24. May 17:00 - 17:45
Studenten // Free

KNEES-UP & POETRY SLAM

Two of Denmark and Finland's best poetry slammers, Peter Dyreborg and Rosanna Fellman, help to lift the mood at this month's knees-up! And if that isn't enough...
Free

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24. May
24. May 17:00 - 17:50
Lillehammer bibliotek // 180

LITERATURE AS A COMPASS

The main character in British author Claire-Louise Bennett's latest novel Checkout 19 is a woman who lives through books, using her imagination to protect her ...

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24. May
24. May 18:00 - 23:00
Nansenskolen // 180,–

GARDEN PARTY FOR EVERYONE

True to tradition, there will be a lively and pleasant garden party in Nansen University College's garden - open to everyone with debutante readings, DJ and fo...

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24. May
24. May 18:00 - 19:30
Verdensteateret // 180

DEBATE: WITH ONE FOOT IN THE OLD AND ONE FOOT IN THE NEW WORLD

The world is constantly changing, and literature is trying to grasp it. Meet authors who give differing points of view regarding the experience of living in a ...

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24. May
24. May 19:30 - 20:45
Kulturhuset Banken Festsalen // 280

MAJA LUNDE AND FRIENDS

The author Maja Lunde has invited two significant voices in the fight to draw attention to the ongoing climate crisis: the Indian writer and thinker Amitav Gho...

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25. May
25. May 11:00 - 11:50
Lillehammer Kunstmuseum // 180

INTERMEDIATION – UNITING TWO WORLDS

The Māori poet Tayi Tibble from New Zealand and her Swedish-Sami colleague Linnea Axelsson talk about having an indigenous background, standing with one foot i...

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25. May
25. May 13:00 - 13:50
Lillehammer Kirke // 180

CLOSE-UP: LEA YPI

Today, Lea Ypi is a professor of political theory at the London School of Economics, but she grew up in Albania in the 1990s. There, she experienced the collap...

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25. May
25. May 15:00 - 16:00
Kulturhuset Banken cafeen // 180

CLUB POETRY

Club Poetry offers readings by some of the greatest poets from Norway and the world. Take a seat and enjoy an amazing listening experience. The readers - Kolek...

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25. May
25. May 17:00 - 17:50
Festivalteltet // 180

CLOSE-UP: BURHAN SÖNMEZ

After going to Istanbul to study law, Sönmez was expelled from the university because he worked for the pro-democracy movement. Eventually, he was permitted to...

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25. May
25. May 17:00 - 17:50
Lillehammer Kirke // 180

CLOSE-UP: OCEAN VUONG

A conversation with acclaimed Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong, who was raised in the United States by his illiterate, immigrant mother. It was by discover...

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25. May
25. May 17:30 - 19:00
Verdensteateret // 180

DEBATE: WAR AND LITERATURE

War has been one of the great themes of literature since the Iliad. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, war has suddenly moved closer to us all. How can one ...

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25. May
25. May 19:30 - 21:00
Maihaugsalen // 380

LITERARY GALA

Welcome to a magnificent evening of literature and music in Maihaugsalen with great authors’ personalities and musical performances. Linn Ullmann will be the h...

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26. May
26. May 11:00 - 11:50
Lillehammer Kunstmuseum // 180

THE POSSIBILITIES OF FOLKLORE

In works such as Queen Pokou, Véronique Tadjo from Côte d'Ivoire uses an ancient myth to write about the bloody ethnic wars in West Africa and the slave trade ...

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26. May
26. May 13:00 - 13:50
Søndre Park // Free

FRIDAY LUNCH

Have a cup of coffee and enjoy the spring while listening to Helga Flatland (NO), Maja Lee Langvad (DK), Trude Marstein (NO) and Torrey Peters (USA) read. Line...
Free

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26. May
26. May 13:00 - 13:50
Kulturhuset Banken Festsalen // 280,–

THE ROAD TO AN AUTHORSHIP

Argentinian-American Hernan Diaz and Danish Solvej Balle are celebrated worldwide for their distinctive novels. But the road to success has been long. Hernan D...

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26. May
26. May 14:00 - 15:10
Lillehammer Kirke // 180

WRITING HISTORY

What can we learn about our societies by examining history and writing about it? Meet three authors who have delved into the archives to write books: Finnish S...

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26. May
26. May 14:00 - 14:50
Lillehammer bibliotek // 180

IN THE SHADOW OF GENIUS

Irish author Anne Enright – who has written about the daughter of a great, egocentric actor - meets Danish Jesper Wung-Sung – who has written about the artist ...

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26. May
26. May 14:00 - 14:50
Verdensteateret // 180,–

WHAT HISTORY TEACHES US

British non-fiction author Phillippe Sands talks with historian and director of the Norwegian Holocaust Centre Guri Hjeltnes about his books on the Second Worl...

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26. May
26. May 15:00 - 15:50
Kulturhuset Banken Festsalen // 180

THE EARLY DAYS OF WORLD WAR 3?

Christopher Coker is a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and one of the world's leading political scientists and philosoph...

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26. May
26. May 15:00 - 15:50
Festivalteltet // 180

FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Three authors from different parts of the world talk about life and writing: Aaiún Nin, Angolan poet, performance artist and activist whose work explores and ...

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26. May
26. May 15:00 - 15:50
Nansenskolen // Free

THE POWER OF THE SHORT STORY

The 14th-century Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio is considered to be the founder of the short story. But what exactly defines a short story? Two of the world...
Free

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26. May
26. May 16:00 - 16:50
Lillehammer Kirke // 180

CLOSE-UP: SOFI OKSANEN

Finnish author Sofi Oksanen is one of Scandinavia’s' great contemporary writers. Here, she talks about her strong belief in literature's ability to clarify our...

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26. May
26. May 18:00 - 19:30
Verdensteateret // 180

DEBATE: DOES WORLD LITERATURE EXIST?

Is it possible today to talk about a world literature, almost 200 years after Goethe introduced the term? Should it be the role of literature to address the bi...

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26. May
26. May 18:00 - 01:00
Kulturhuset Banken // 380

BANK NIGHT

Welcome to Bank Night. There will be music, readings, exciting conversations, and dancing into the late hours! This year's bank director is Marie Aubert! ...

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26. May
26. May 19:00 - 20:00
Bjerkebæk // 180

KVELDSETO: STORYTELLING

“Kveldseto” is an old Norwegian term that describes the time of day when people gathered around the fireplace in the evening, to do various needlework and tell...

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26. May
26. May 19:00 - 19:50
Festivalteltet // 180

A CHANGING COUNTRYSIDE

Both Lars Mytting and the Irish writer Anne Enright describe the countryside in their books. In both cases, it is about a traditional, conservative countryside...

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27. May
27. May 10:00 - 10:30
Festivalteltet // Free

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR A STORY?

Niall de Burca is a scælaí, a traditional storyteller from Ireland. At the festival, he will be telling stories in English for the whole family. Come and hear ...
Free

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27. May
27. May 11:00 - 11:50
Verdensteateret // 180

THE LONG SHADOW OF COLONIALISM

Phillippe Sands from Great Britain and Adania Shibli from Palestine have both recently published books that feature those impacted by colonialism. How does col...

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27. May
27. May 12:00 - 12:50
Lillehammer bibliotek // 180

FUTURE IMAGES

Argentinian Samanta Schweblin and Icelandic Frida Isberg have both had great success with dystopian depictions of the future. In their books, a picture of the ...

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27. May
27. May 12:00 - 13:30
Kulturhuset Banken Festsalen // 180

PERFORMANCE: RAW SALON AND Q AND A

Canadian author Anne Carson is considered one of the most important poetic voices in contemporary English literature. Her genre-crossing, experimental texts co...

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27. May
27. May 14:00 - 14:50
Lillehammer bibliotek // 180

AN ORDINARY LIFE

Jan Grue and Torrey Peters (USA) have both written about people who want to live ordinary lives, but who, for various reasons, are considered different. For ex...

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27. May
27. May 14:00 - 14:50
Brenneriet // 180

ENMESHED FAMILIES

The Nigerian writer Lola Shoneyin, like Marie Aubert, writes about people with turbulent family relationships. Both authors constantly return to the family as ...

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27. May
27. May 14:00 - 14:50
Verdensteateret // 180

THE EXPLORER AND THE EXPLORED

Morten Strøksnes is currently working on a book about the undeservedly forgotten explorer Carl Lumholz, who grew up in Lillehammer. His thinking was ahead of i...

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27. May
27. May 15:00 - 16:00
Jevne gård // 180

IRISH STORYTELLING

The tradition of gathering around the fireplace to do various handicrafts and tell stories goes far back in time and can be found in many countries. At Jevne f...

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27. May
27. May 16:00 - 16:50
Verdensteateret // 280

WHEN CORRUPTION POISONS LIFE

Wanjiru Koinage from Kenya and Deepti Kapoor from India in conversation. Both writers currently have novels in which corruption within society plays a devastat...

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27. May
27. May 16:00 - 16:50
Kulturhuset Banken Festsalen // 280

CLOSE-UP: HERNAN DIAZ

The Pulitzerprize-winning novel Trust by Hernan Diaz is gaining traction worldwide. Now you can experience him in Lillehammer. Hernan Diaz was born in Argenti...

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27. May
27. May 18:00 - 19:30
Verdensteateret // 180

THE DEBATE: WOMEN TELL STORIES FROM DIFFERENT CONTINENTS

We meet a trio of authors Lola Shoneyin (Nigeria), Fatemeh Ekhtesari (Iran/Norway) and Yan Ge (China/Ireland) who, in their own way, write stories about the hi...

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27. May
27. May 19:00 - 21:30
Haakons Brenneriet og Hygge // Free

PUB CRAWL

We celebrate Lars Saabye Christensen's 70th anniversary with Saabye's circus and Pub Crawl dedicated to his unique, comprehensive and highly appreciated writin...
Free

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27. May
27. May 22:00 - 22:50
Festivalteltet // Free

CONCERT: HARR&HARTBERG&SAABYE

This year's pub crawl ends with a concert with Harr & Hartberg, consisting of Aslak Hartberg, Thorbjørn Harr and musicians of the highest class. The band Harr&...
Free

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28. May
28. May 12:00 - 12:50
Søndre Park // Free

PRØIS MEETS SCHWEBLIN

Samanta Schweblin was introduced to Norwegian audiences through Signe Prøis' translation of the novel Distancia de rescate (2014) in 2017. After that came the ...
Free

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28. May
28. May 14:00 - 14:50
Lillehammer bibliotek // 180

SOCIETY’S DARK SIDES

The Indian writer Deepti Kapoor and Swede Christoffer Carlsson talk about the art of describing a society. In their novels, which are now available in Norwegia...

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