Please join us on November 17th, at 4:00pm, to hear novelist and playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri discuss linguistic revenge!
An exploration of verbal vengeance in Selma Lagerlöf's "The Treasure" and Sara Stridsberg's "Valerie - or The Faculty of Dreams". Acclaimed Swedish writer Jonas Hassen Khemiri will speak about two of his favorite texts, written in his mother tongue. How can we use our words to get back at our enemies? What does a linguistic rebellion look like? What are the odds of forgiveness?
Selma Lagerlöf was a Swedish writer. Born in 1858, she was the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Sara Stridsberg is a Swedish writer. Born in 1972, she was awarded the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for her novel "Valerie, or The Faculty of Dreams", a fictional story about Valerie Solanas, who wrote the SCUM manifesto.
Novelist and playwright Jonas Hassen Khemiri is considered one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Swedish literature. Hailed by critics for his many times imaginative and linguistically inventive stories, Khemiri has been translated into more than 30 languages. He won the French Prix Médicis in 2021 and in 2020 was nominated for the US National Book Award. In 2020, Khemiri moved to New York for a Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library. He is currently teaching in the creative writing program at NYU.
This will take place in the Petersen Room of the Allen Library, from 4:00-5:30pm on November 17th -- it is free and open to the public, and a selection of Mr. Khemiri's work will be available for purchase after the event. We look forward to seeing you there!