Love in literature
Literature
Det Norske Teatret og Fotogalleriet invites to an author meeting with Gudmund Vindsund and Gerd Brantenberg on Tuesday 10 May.
Det Norske Teatret, in collaboration with Fotogalleriet, invites to a conversation between the authors Gudmund Vidsund and Gerd Brantenberg, moderated by author and Blikk journalist Caroline Ugelstad Elnæs.
The authors’ meeting takes place under the auspices of the exhibition Skeive Ikoner, by photographer Fin Serck-Hanssen, which was recently shown at the Photo Gallery in Oslo. Well, parts of the exhibition hang at the Norwegian Theater, and is thus a nice setting for the writers’ meeting on Tuesday 10 May, which is about love in literature.
Gerd Brantenberg (b. 1941) made his debut as a writer in 1973 with “Opp alle jordens homofile”. In 1977 came “Daughters of Egalia”, which is her most read book. The book has been translated into a number of languages and has sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide.
Brantenberg is also a profiled activist and has been central in a number of movements. She co-founded the Cross-Literary Women’s Forum in 1978, has been an activist at the Women’s House in Copenhagen and Oslo (1972-83), co-founded the Crisis Center in Oslo and the Women’s College in Denmark and founded the Lesbian Movement in Copenhagen (1974) and Oslo (1975). )). Brantenberg is also depicted in the exhibition Skeive Ikoner.
Wild shot
Gudmund Vidsund (b. 1949) is best known for his debut novel from 1979, «Wild Shots», which has sold over 100,000 copies, an abnormally high number for a debut, and a staggeringly high for a novel about love and sex between men.
The book depicts gay Yngve’s long struggle against homophobia in itself and in society. Most attention was given to Yngve’s relationship with the author Jonas Løvehjerte, and a direct account of Gudmund Vindsund’s stormy relationship with Jens Bjørneboe.
In an interview with Blikk in June 2003, Vindsund talks about his relationship with Jens Bjørneboe.
– When I met Bjørneboe he was run down and exhausted. “The Sharks” (1974) was the last thing he did. In that book, it seemed that he drank while writing. In some places he fails to follow his own lines of argument and completes them with his usual punctuated elegance. But preserved, “The Sharks” is a great novel, Vidsund told Blikk.
The relationship between Vidsund and Bjørneboe was stormy.
– It was hell. Alcoholism is a deadly obsession. Jens fell in love with me and we moved in together, but soon I could not stand drinking his anymore. He drank everything he came across. Every time I tried to sleep he woke me up after half an hour. “Are you lying here sleeping while I walk here and suffering?” he shouted then, Vidsund told Blikk in 2006.
– I am happy and grateful that I got to know Jens. He was a great writer and a good man. But alcoholism is a disease that breaks down and destroys both the drinker and his loved ones. Jens showed me how I would not stay, but I was just as hooked as him, and got to know how much he was in pain.
Insight: Love in literature, Tuesday 10 May at 18, Det Norske Teatret, Kristian IVs gate 8.