The Literature Boat Epos, public programme and tour: Water as a Linker and Separator

(Norsk oversettelse kommer)

As part of across, with, nearby, the Literature Boat Epos, connecting to the core of its mission, embarks on a multi-stop journey through the Hardanger Fjord and its coastal communities of Western Norway. Carrying newly commissioned artworks, writers in residence, and a public programme of readings, talks, encounters, screenings, and performances, the boat visits both remote villages and urban harbours. The tour connects Bergen, Valevåg, Grimo, Lofthus, Øystese, Odda, and other places along the fjord before returning to Bergen. At each stop, Epos becomes a space of encounter and exhange, offering poetry and literature readings, audio and visual artworks, informal gatherings, music evenings, and film screenings. The programme explores the ways in which water connects more than it separates, shaping relations, language, movement, and places. The programme was convened by Adania Shibli in dialogue with Maria Pile Svåsand and local communities.

Writers Layli Long Soldier, Shahram Khosravi, and Maaza Mengiste take part in residencies on board, alongside the new commissioned works all we are saying… by Elsebet Rahlff and Along the currents — an ocean of voices, a choral of beings by Elin Már Øyen Vister in collaboration with others, and the video work Land Listening (2025) by Philip Rizk. These works return to water’s role in linking distant and neighbouring places, shaping relations across geographies — or, therefore, preventing them and at times concealing or even destroying them.

Izz Aljabari (b. 1990, Bethlehem) is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher working at the intersection of contemporary art, local knowledge, and heritage. He leads the Rawhi Studio 1956 Archive, a large-scale project preserving Hebron’s visual memory, and co-founded the Mandaloun Lab for Experimental Arts. His practice explores memory, fragmentation, and spatial transformation through sculpture, installation, and archival research.

Priya Bains (b. 1995, Trondheim) is a poet, essayist, translator, and editor of the literary journal Vinduet. She made her debut with the poetry collection Med restene av mine hender at Forlaget October in 2021, for which she was nominated for Tarjei Vesaas’ Debutant Prize, awarded the Olav H. Hauge grant 2022 and received Festspilldikterens grant at Dei litterære festspela in Bergen. She has translated Aya Kanbar and Fatimah Asghar into Norwegian, and in 2023 she edited the anthology Alltid samme snø, alltid samme grense with Burcu Sahin.

Jordan Barger is an American translator of Norwegian and Danish literature and poetry. He has translated works by Tor Ulven, Sigbørn Obstfelder and Yahya Hassan, among others. Barger is affiliated with the University of Iowa's MFA programme in Literary Translation. This autumn, Barger has a writing residency at the Haugesenteret in Ulvik. The residency is linked to the translation of parts of Olav H. Hauge's diary.

Olav Bleie (b. 1982, Oslo) is a cider producer from Hardanger, known for founding Alde Sider, a well-regarded cider house. His work focuses on traditional cider making using apples from the family farm, blending innovation with regional heritage.

Leander Djønne (b. 1981, Odda) lives and works in Grimo, Hardanger. He studied at the Malmö Art Academy/Lund University (MA), the Art Academies in Oslo and Bergen, the State Academy of Fine Arts in Frankfurt am Main, and the Rogue Film School by Werner Herzog. Exploring the conflicts between nature and civilisation fuelled by humans, Djønne's artistic practice moves between film, text, photography and sculpture. His work has been presented in exhibitions and publications both nationally and internationally.

Nina Eriksson (b. 1997, Stockholm) is an artist and writer based in Bergen. She works in textile sculpture, text, and performance, interrogating material and poetic aspects of queer subcultural histories to sketch alternative presents and futures. Additionally, she runs workshops in writing and making, often in collaboration or within the projects of others - most recently a listening workshop within artist Amber Ablett’s project Hvileåret: Mixtape, and the writing workshop Touch Type at Fish Factory Arts, UK.

Haugesenteret (Olav H. Hauge Centre) presents poetry and songs in many forms and across languages. The centre is situated by the fjord with a view of the mountains from the old parish hall in Ulvik in Hardanger. The exhibition contains stories related to poems by Olav H. Hauge and other poets, and offers experiences for both children and adults. The Haugesenteret is a division of the Nynorsk Cultural Centre.

Katarina Dorothea Isaksen (b. 1995, Sážžá/Senja) is an artist, writer, mediator, politician and activist residing in Birgon/Bergen. In addition to volunteering for the local Sámi community as a board member of the Birgon ja biras sámiid, she is a counsellor for SÁNAG (Sámi national competence centre). She publishes works in the fields of history, art and poetry, all of which are centred on her own indigenous perspective.

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.

Lars Korff Lofthus (b. 1978, Bergen) is a Norwegian visual artist based in Hardanger. His work, which spans painting, sculpture, and installation, often explores the intersection of queer identity with local folklore and traditions. Lofthus trained in Bergen at the former Bergen Academy of Art and Design (KMD) and has also been involved in teaching and curating. His themes frequently converge around nature, desire, and tradition.

The Litteratursymposiet (literature symposium) in Odda has been organised by Ullensvang municipality in October since 2005. Literature has played an important role in this small Hardanger town ever since Frode Grytte from Odda made Norwegian literary history with Bikubesong in 1999. The literature symposium in Odda has evolved from a small, local event focusing on local authors to a five-day national festival featuring also international guests. Local poetry, working-class literature and social mobility have always been on the symposium's agenda.

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.

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.

Morten Norbye Halvorsen (b. 1980, Stavanger) is an artist and composer, whose sound works and musical performances are guided by props, websites, photographs, scripted recordings and concert appearances in an ongoing exploration of collaboration and sound.

Einar Økland (b. 1940, Sveio Municipality) is a prominent Norwegian poet, author, and essayist. Økland was part of the literary group Profil in the 1960s. He is known for his experimental writing that blends humour and critique and has contributed significantly to Norwegian literature and cultural criticism.

Christine Otten (b. 1963, Deventer) is an author, playwright, journalist, and founder of Blocknotes. She has published several novels including Als ik je eenmaal mijn verhaal verteld heb (Once I've Told You My Story) (2024), which deals with the meaning of freedom; One of Us (2020), based on her work with the Dutch prison system; and The Last Poets (2004), about four Afro-American poets. Her work has been adapted for the stage, nominated for the Dutch Libris Literature Prize, and translated into English and Arabic.

Mohamedou Ould Slahi (b. 1970, Rosso) is one of the most famous contemporary Mauritanians worldwide. This is largely due to his Guantánamo Diary, a bestseller that he penned while he was an inmate in Guantánamo prison. Reflecting on Slahi’s plight as a wrongly incarcerated detainee in the (in)famous jail, the memoir was published in January 2015 and remains the only first-person account of a Guantánamo detainee to date. Prosaic and sincere, Slahi’s book depicts his wretched life within a Kafkaesque oubliette — an impersonal yet rationalised and inhumane castle where legality is suspended in a state of exception.

Gunnhild Øyehaug (b. 1975, Ørsta) lives in Bergen, where she teaches at the Academy of Creative Writing. She made her debut with the poetry collection Slave of the Blueberry in 1998, and has written twelve books in various genres, and a screenplay. Øyehaug has a master’s degree in comparative literature, and has received several awards for her writing, amongst them the prestigious Sult Award (2009) and the Dobloug Prize (2009). Her work has been translated into several languages. Her latest novel is Here Comes the Sun (2024), for which she received the Nynorsk prize for literature.

Elin Már Øyen Vister (b. 1976, Oslo) is an artist, composer, and land/water defender. Their research-based practice is careful, curious, and site-specific, inspired by Deep Listening, Indigenous and postcolonial methodologies, and intersectional ecofeminist and grassroot resistance movements around the world. Working across a wide range of artistic practices, Øyen Vister is occupied with the complex entanglements and relations of all living beings and land/water bodies, past, present, and future.

Elsebet Rahlff (b. 1940, Copenhagen) was educated in Copenhagen and Paris and is a visual artist and professor. Rahlff was a member of Gruppe 66 and part of the exhibition at Bergen Kunsthall in 1966, and later in the exhibitions Konkret Analyse (Concrete Analysis), (1970) and Samliv (Common Life) (1977/78). Rahlff played a major role in the presentation of new art practices such as happenings, cross-over collaborations, and installation works.

Agnes Ravatn (b. 1983, Ølen) is a Norwegian author and essayist, recognised for her sharp wit and insight into contemporary life. Her most notable work, The Bird Tribunal (2013), explores themes of guilt, isolation, and redemption, and has been translated into several languages.

Philip Rizk (b. 1982) is a filmmaker and writer from Cairo who lives and works in Berlin. In his films he experiments with methods of Ostranenie (making the habitual strange). Among his films are Land Listening (2024), Mapping Lessons (2020), Terrible Sounds (2022), and Terror Tales (2024). Rizk is a member of The Mosireen Collective. His writings include the essays ‘2011 is Not 1968: A Letter to an Onlooker’, ‘A Letter to the-Survivors-of-the-Old-Time’, and the co-edited upcoming book Neocolonialism and its Dismantling. Rizk irregularly teaches in classrooms and workshops. You can follow his work at https://www.filfilfilm.com/.

Alexander Aga Røynstrand (b. 1990, Hadanger) is a leading figure in the world of Hardanger fiddle players in Norway. His musical expression is deeply rooted in the rich and time-honored Hardanger fiddle repertoire of his native Hardanger region. Over the years, his solo performances have allowed him to craft unique interpretations and convey his personal sentiments through his music.

Tora Sanden Døskeland (b. 1992, Bergen) is a writer, literary scholar, and educator. She holds a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of Copenhagen and a master’s degree from the University of Oslo, and has attended the Academy of Writing in Bergen. Døskeland debuted in 2018 with the poetry collection Behold meg, published by Oktober forlag. She works as a freelance journalist and and is a programme advisor for the Sentralbadet Litteraturhus in Odda. Sanden Døskeland lives in Hardanger.

Trine Samuelsen Hansen (b. 1992, Skiervá/Skjervøy) is a Norwegian–Sea Sámi architect and musician. She began joiking in her twenties and has found her own joik voice – an expression that springs from a personal and cultural rediscovery. She is interested in how Norwegianization has affected generations of Sea Sámi and uses both music and architecture to explore and convey identity, belonging and landscape.

Knut Jonas Sellevold (b. 1980, Stavanger) is a Bergen-based sound artist, educator, and researcher. His artistic work and research lie at the intersection of ethnomusicology and sound studies, pedagogy, technology, and ecology. Knut is also one half of the duo to you they are birds, to me they are voices in the forest with Cuban interdisciplinary artist Daiyen Jone. Together they explore improvised, imaginary landscapes in the hinterlands of music, sound, and nature.

Jakkai Siributr (b. 1969, Bangkok) works with textiles to explore the connections between tradition and modernity. His embroidered installations reflect on themes of violence, religious symbolism, migration, identity, and personal memory. His studio works with artisans from Phayao Province in northern Thailand and supports the local community. Siributr also currently works with the Shan Youth Organization in Northern Thailand. He lives and works in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Valenheimen was the home of composer Fartein Valen (1887–1952), which was built in 1903 in the Swiss style. The home has been carefully preserved and offers a rare glimpse into Valen’s life and work. Today, Valenheimen is used for cultural events. Each year, Valenheimen takes part in the Fartein Valen Festival.

Vinduet is a Norwegian literary journal known for championing and publishing new and often unconventional literature, as well as essays, criticism, and literary reflections. Founded in 1947, the journal has played a key role in shaping literary and cultural discourse in Norway ever since. Previously appearing as a quarterly journal, from 2021 Vinduet has existed as a digital-only open-access publication. Under the editorship of Priya Bains since 2024, Vinduet continues to explore new intersections between literature, politics, film, and contemporary culture, with a particular focus on experimental and underrepresented voices.