Background Stockholm Literature

Stockholm Literature | Moderna Museet was initiated and developed by Margareta Petersson and Stefan Ingvarsson, who met while working on a Strindberg exhibition in spring 2012. Margareta, who has a diverse background as a producer and project manager for exhibitions and stage productions, had been contemplating an idea for a festival inspired by Louisiana Literature in Denmark. Meanwhile, Stefan was in the process of leaving his job at a publishing company to engage in talks on literature. They both felt that Stockholm needed a major literary event, where translated literature, which is increasingly hard to promote to readers, could be introduced. But an equally important objective was to combine different artistic disciplines in talks, performances and readings. When their concept was presented to Moderna Museet’s management, the Museum was eager to be a key partner and host the festival. In order to get the planning process of the ground and start applying for funding, a non-profit organisation was set up, Stockholms Litteraturfestival, with a board of directors consisting of Kerstin M Lundberg, Anders Bodegård, Magnus Florin, Ann-Sofi Noring and Yukiko Duke. The project was named Stockholm Literature l Moderna Museet. Moderna Museet appointed its curator, Catrin Lundqvist, to represent the Museum in the event programming process.

Stockholm Literature | Moderna Museet is organised by the non-profit organisation Stockholms Litteraturfestival, with Moderna Museet as its key partner. The other partners are: Albert Bonniers Förlag, Atlantis, Ersatz, Natur & Kultur, Norstedts, Pequod, Rámus, Sekwa, Wahlström & Widstrand, Weyler, Dramaten& and the Friends of Moderna Museet. The festival is supported by: The City of Stockholm, the Swedish Arts Council, the Swedish Academy, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, Goethe-Institut Schweden, AIEQ, the Canadian Embassy and the Norwegian Embassy.

The programme has been prepared by the initiators and project managers of Stockholm Literature, Margareta Petersson and Stefan Ingvarsson, together with Moderna Museet curator Catrin Lundqvist. Events will be in English, Russian, German, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish, or interpreted into Swedish.

Foto: Albin Dahlström/Moderna Museet