Continue reading Xiaolu Guo: Everybody dreams of a borderless world
Speaking Volumes are producers of literary events that focus on international authors of color who perform their literature rather on stage – in very different fashion. Sharmilla and her partners have curated a great program with four authors from different directions of the world which they will be presenting in Berlin, 16 November at Lettrétage. Continue reading Sharmilla from Speaking Volumes talks about her ventures in literature
Jaap Blonk is a sound poet that is a virtuoso in his art. He uses vocal sound production that scoops the whole range of what is possible to transcribe in international phonetic alphabet. This coming Monday he teams up with Tomomi Adachi in Berlin to do a public recording session. Continue reading Asemic Dialogues – Jaap Blonk and Tomomi Adachi
This pair meets great: Maria Α. Ioannou and a festival. Starting out as an author Maria felt the need to bring literature to the people in Cyprus – in different ways than to write. That is why in 2013 she started a literary festival for hybrid artistic creations: SARDAM. Hear how she started it, how it developed and how her motherhood is influencing her. Continue reading Maria A. Ioannou – A festival organiser of Cyprus
Sivuvalo is literary activism at its best. The network/publishing company that works across national borders to promote non-Finnish literature from Finland is a fresh way for literature in a globalized world. Continue reading Sivuvalo – Spot it on the globe
How to adress the acuteness of migrants issues in poetry? Even though a literary entreprise that has many agents, according to Sabine Venaruzzo, she feels the need to work with words of migrants with a different approach than many others. She will perform a symbolic march – or a somatic performance – starting today, January 19th. The open-outcome project will be going on for over 2 years and aims to cross European borders in many different fashions.
Continue reading Sabine Venaruzzo – “There are no words for it, it’s better put into poetry.”
Engaged literature has many faces. What unites these approaches is, though, the will to change something in the reader’s mind. A goal. This is the reason why these works reflect a will to address issues of political, social and cultural explosiveness. Mirko, born in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) has published several volumes of poetry, essays, columns and stories and founded a literary festival. “I want to give a differentiated view”, he says when asked what his goals are. And these views are often connected to his home country. So let’s find out what his literature has to do with his origins. Continue reading Mirko Božić – A “Literary Activist”
Spitzweg’s lonely poet – how many times have you seen it on students walls or as a facebook profile picture? How many have at some point identified with the poor poet? A lonely poet in a roof chamber holding on to nothing but an umbrella and a book. This Saturday the Lettrétage will turn pages upside down and into the internet. 4 acclaimed poets met during one week from 9-to-5 to produce a piece of a long poem which will be presented on 5 November.
Fiston Mwanza Mujila travelled on the OMNIBUS Reading Tour in the very first week from Helsinki across the arctic circle way up into the north. Coming originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, journeying has become a necessary part of Fiston’s life as an author and migrant emplyoing a unique perspective on countries and national borders. I talked with Fiston about travelling, the OMNIBUS Reading Tour, guilt and influences on writing. Continue reading Fiston Mwanza Mujila – “Finland was my non-lieu”
The OMNIBUS reading tour, spanning over 12 weeks, has reached its final stage: Cyprus – and its final week. Elvis has not yet left the building, though. Cyprus is still a divided country, a country where arts and politics share a different relationship. Read here how the authors perceived the literary scene in Cyprus, have an inside look into the political situation and think about when you last heard a siren wailing. This may indeed be quite a fitting end to a journey which has traversed the whole of the European Union. Continue reading Messenger Interview: Authors of the final week
