Stockholms internationella poesifestival – »Nya blommornas språk«

Contemporary Slovenian and Swedish poetry at Teater Giljotin The history of same-sex expression and queer identities is strewn with flowers: Sapfo’s violets, Oscar Wilde’s carnations, the Japanese rose in films such as A Funeral Parade of Roses, as well as the lilies or lily of

the valley of mourning.

But the language of flowers is just one example of how important metaphors and similes are in the lives of LGBTQI+ people. Poetry is the literary genre that offers the greatest scope for breaking down normative language in the search for new ways to express complex feelings, identities and ecologies.

Stockholms Internationella Poesifestival 2026 presents a collaboration between Slovenian and Swedish poets, who will read together at Teater Giljotin on Sunday 25/10. The participating poets are Sara Hallström, Aljaž Koprivnikar, Maria Bodin, Aljaž Primožič, Axel Winqvist, Iva Jevtić and Urša Majcen, all of whom create their own distinct linguistic worlds in verse in different ways: from the smallest components of anatomy and new perspectives on religion to horny flowers and hostile occupation.

PARTICIPANTS

Iva Jevtić, born in 1976, is a poet and translator. She made her debut as a poet with the collection Težnost (Gravity) in 2005. Her second poetry collection, Milost (Grace), was published in 2023 and received the Veronika Award for best poetry collection. She has studied literature with a focus on medieval mysticism, which leaves its mark on her poetry, often touching on the fantastical, human and natural laws, and changing bodies from a historically informed perspective.

Urša Majcen, born in 1998, is a poet, dramaturg, visual artist and performer. Her first poetry collection, Ekosistem tišine (The Ecosystem of Silence), was published in 2021. Her poetry addresses LGBTQI+ issues and feminist perspectives through a play with presence, the absence of spaces and words, metamorphoses, bodily vulnerability and ecological cycles.

Aljaž Primožič, born in 2001, is a poet, playwright and investigative journalist. He made his debut as a playwright in 2020 and later achieved success with his poetry debut, Čisto potiho (So Quietly), in 2022. His writing draws inspiration from small everyday details and objects, popular culture and politics, as well as philosophy and cultural history.

Aljaž Koprivnikar, born in Ljubljana in 1987, is a poet, critic, coordinator and mediator in several cross-border European literary projects. His first poetry collection, Anatomija (Anatomy), was published in 2019, and his poetry explores intimacy, migration, the body and identities that cross boundaries in a fragmented contemporary world. In 2026, he was awarded the PONT Prize for a Promising Author of Intercultural Literature.

Sara Hallström, born in 1979, is a poet and nursery teacher who made her debut in 2004 with Vi måste ha protein. For her poetry collection Rötter smälter (2007), she received the Mare Kandre Prize with the citation: ‘sensuous poems in which people are split in two by the collision between love and reason.’ Her poetry collection Tvätta och bli tvättad (2023) received the Prisma Prize for queer literature in the ‘Poetry of the Year’ category.

Maria Bodin, born in 1997, is a poet and editor who made her debut with 20TAL Bok with the poetry collection Kristinafragment in autumn 2024. The book was nominated for the Borås Tidning Debut Prize with the citation ‘For a three-dimensional reflection of the poetic self through a fleshy body and fragmented memory’, as well as for the Prisma Literature Prize. 20TAL Bok will publish Bodin’s second poetry collection in 2027.

Axel Winqvist, born in 1991, is a poet and radio producer. He made his debut in 2021 with the poetry collection Det vackra och det fula, and his second collection, Den sista människans leende, was published in 2022. Winqvist’s third poetry collection, Kåta blommor, was published in 2024, and that same year he received the Kalleberger Scholarship from Svenska Akademien.