August 14, 2024
Oceanen kulturhus
Award-Winning The Queer Gaze Releases its Fall Program!
In 2023, the cultural center Oceanen presented its very first literary series, The Queer Gaze, which received the Nöjesguiden Göteborg Prize this spring in the category of Club of the Year.
On several occasions, we invited queer poets and authors to curate an evening on Oceanen’s stage based on a specific theme. The term “The Male Gaze” was coined by Laura Mulvey to describe the gaze that views women as objects for the pleasure of heterosexual men. In response, “The Female Gaze” emerged, a way to subvert the object and position women as the observers. With the program series The Queer Gaze, Oceanen continues to build on these concepts, using the queer gaze to deconstruct all gender-based power dynamics by allowing the authors to act as subjects, thereby telling their own stories.
In 2024, we will continue the series with invited curators from across the Nordic region.
It’s time for another fall of queer literary conversations, readings, performances, and much more! We kick off with an evening co-curated by artist Nadia Maghder and Danish poet Elias Sadaq: about colonialism and djinns, followed by an evening on the theme of queer translation curated by the founder of Sweden’s only LGBTQ+ bookstore, Lou Mattei. In November, we return to Denmark and explore new kinships with Maja Lee Langvad, and the fall program concludes with an evening curated by Theodor Hildeman Togner, who, along with guests, invites you to an evening on how queers talk!
You’ll find information about all the events down below. Welcome to Oceanen!
September 13: Nadia Maghder & Elias Sadaq
Can Black Magic and Djinns Truly Be Tools for Liberation?
The resistance of the djinn Aicha Kondisha against the Portuguese occupation in Morocco has been mystified and reduced to black magic, not only by the Western world. On September 13, poet Elias Sadaq will join artist Nadia Maghder at Oceanen to delve into anti-colonial interpretations of alternative realities and their magic.
Elias Sadaq is an author and playwright. In March 2024, he published DJINN—a poetry collection about obsession and desire—through Gyldendal. Prior to that, he gained attention with the performance Fremmedlegionen, which was staged in 2023 at the Danish National School of Performing Arts in Aarhus, where he is also a student.
Nadia Maghder works with text, video, and installation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literary Composition from HDK-Valand and a Master’s degree in Fine Art from Konstfack. Maghder contributed to Cycle Press’s recent anthology Skräck och Avsky and recently exhibited at Galleri Antics in Stockholm. Previously, she has written for the film Blomster and for journals such as Glänta and Bänken.
October 11: Lou Mattei (Founder of PAGE28)
Translate/Distort/Reflect/Transcend
Welcome to an evening centered on queer translation! Together with Jennifer Hayashida, Imri Sandström, and Yolanda Aurora Bohm Ramirez, we will focus on translation as a queer artistic practice, discuss how queers broadly translate their experiences into literature, and offer multilingual readings.
Lou Mattei is a playwright, writer, and translator based in Malmö. She has studied literary translation at Biskops Arnö Folk High School and participated in Riksteatern’s theatre residency 22/23 with her play Badrummet. Lou holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and French from Lund University and is one of the founders of the queer bookstore and cultural venue PAGE 28. She is also one of the initiators of the newly established queer literary prize Prisma.
Yolanda Aurora Bohm Ramirez, born in 1987 in Växjö and raised in Skogås outside Stockholm, is a poet, speaker, comedian, and translator. She debuted in 2018 with the poetry collection Ikon, and in 2021, she was awarded the Natur & Kultur translation grant.
Imri Sandström is an artist, researcher, and writer. She grew up in northern Sweden and now lives in rural Skåne. She defended her PhD in 2019 with Tvärsöver otysta tider / Across Unquiet Times, a bilingual dissertation in literary composition on the histories and languages of Västerbotten and New England, accompanied by the poetry of Susan Howe. In 2024, she published the poetry collection Hela tiden through Ellerströms.
Jennifer Hayashida, born December 24, 1973, in Oakland, is an American-Swedish poet, artist, and translator of Swedish-language literature, as well as a doctoral candidate in literary composition at the University of Gothenburg. She has translated works by Ida Börjel, Athena Farrokhzad, Fredrik Nyberg, Katarina Taikon, and Eva Sjödin into English.
November 22: Maja Lee Langvad
NEW KINSHIPS
Maja Lee Langvad has invited author C.Y. Frostholm for a conversation based on their latest books TOLK and Til den ven jeg aldrig har kendt. Both authors share the experience of writing candidly about their own lives—covering topics such as family, homosexuality, and love. Their books challenge the traditional understanding of family and attempt to create new kinships and connections, especially through writing. The evening will feature conversations, readings, and a Q&A.
Maja Lee Langvad, born in 1980 in Seoul, was raised in Denmark. She is one of the most intriguing voices in contemporary Danish literature and debuted in 2006 with the poetry collection Find Holger Danske. In 2016, her acclaimed book Hon är arg, a fierce testimony of being adopted, was published in Swedish by Albert Bonniers Förlag. Her other work, Dagar med galopperande hjärtklappning, is also available in Swedish, published by Ellerströms.
C.Y. (Cyf) Frostholm is a writer, visual artist, and translator, born in 1963. He has published poetry and prose since 1985. His latest book, Til den ven jeg aldrig har kendt (September 3, 2023), was nominated for both the Politiken and Montana literary awards.
December 13: Theodor Hildeman Togner
Queer Dialogue – How Do Queers Talk?
Theodor Hildeman Togner, Anna Nygren, and Hanna-Linnea Hannu will read dialogues from their novels together and discuss writing queer dialogue.
Theodor Hildeman Togner, born in 1992 and based in Stockholm, debuted with the prose-poetic collection Ut (Lesbisk Pocket, 2015) about girls, flowers, and dysphoria, which was nominated for the Borås Tidning Debutant Prize. In 2022, he published the poetry collection Kärnor with it-lit. This year, he is releasing his first novel, Innan Livet, published by Lesbisk Pocket.
Anna Nygren is an author, poet, and playwright, born in 1990 and based in Gothenburg. She has published several books with publishers such as it-lit and Lesbisk Pocket, and she teaches as a lecturer at HDK-Valand.
Hanna-Linnea Hannu, formerly Rengfors, is a poet, author, and folk high school teacher. She has written the books Närhetsprincipen, Candy, Tillsammans i mörker, and Ingen dal djup nog, all published by it-lit.
The Queer Gaze is organised with support from the Swedish Arts Council, ABF, the Swedish Academy, the City of Gothenburg, and the Non-Profit Culture Alliance. The 2023 program was conducted in collaboration with SAQMI, the Swedish Archive for Queer Moving Images, and QRAB, the Queer Movement Archive and Library. The 2024 events are organised in collaboration with the Kvinnofolkhögskolan in Gothenburg, where students from the writing course Your Silence Will Not Protect You will be invited to read their texts on Oceanen’s stage.