Epos Writers in Residence

As part of Water as a Linker and Separator, the Literature Boat Epos hosts three writers in residence whose practices explore themes of colonialism, narration, polyphony, and place. Each residency takes place on board as the boat travels the fjords — offering time for reflection, writing, and engagement with people and groups in Hardanger through readings, talks, workshops, and walks.

Poet and visual artist Layli Long Soldier employs writing and listening to engage with the shifting geographies of her journey with the Literature Boat Epos as it arrives in Salhus, later culminating in readings and conversations in Valevåg, where she will take part in a public programme.

Anthropologist Shahram Khosravi explores Fugitive Pedagogy, a series of reflections and encounters that consider the act of crossing water in conditions of precarity, in collaboration with migrant and refugee communities, and other residents in Hardanger. In this sense, Fugitive Pedagogy reminds us of what Aimé Césaire named as poetic knowledge; a knowledge that precedes scientific knowledge, and is often violently excluded.

Writer and photographer Maaza Mengiste uses the boat’s passage to explore connections between the African continent and the Norwegian coastline, excavating narratives that draw on memory, migration, and maritime movement. Mengiste’s residency also brings her to the Literature Symposium in Odda at the beginning of October 2025.


Layli Long Soldier
(b. 1974, Fort Collins), a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, is a poet whose work engages with history, language, and Indigenous sovereignty. She is the author of Whereas (2017) and Chromosomory (2010). Her new book of poetry, We, is forthcoming in 2026. Her poems have appeared in various renowned media publications. Long Soldier teaches in the MFA Creative Writing Program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Shahram Khosravi (b. 1966, Tehran) is an anthropologist and writer whose work examines displacement, borders, and time. He is a professor at Stockholm University and the author of several books, including Illegal Traveller and Waiting. Khosravi is co-founder of the Critical Border Studies network and contributes regularly to international publications. He lives and works in Stockholm.

Maaza Mengiste (b. 1971, Addis Ababa) is a writer and photographer whose work explores individual lives shaped by political violence, memory, and migration. She is the author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and Beneath the Lion’s Gaze. Mengiste is a recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers. She lives and works in New York.