Trikster Blog

The Swedish journal lambda nordica released an issue on queer theology a little while back, and it is worth looking into if you’re interested in the intersection of Christianity and sexuality. It has essays in Swedish by writers such as Peter Forsberg, Niklas Olaison, Malin Ekström and Daniel Enstedt, among others. (Read the positive review in Svenska Dagbladet here). Especially interesting is the text on the Swedish Lutheran Church’s thanaphobia – their fear of death…

While waiting for their next issue on ‘Queer Methodology’ in English (due later this fall), readers who haven’t gotten a copy of their issue on Fashion (3/4, 2009), with Del LaGrace Volcano’s image of Bird La Bird on the cover, has some good reading ahead. Warning: The one and only Ulrika Dahl’s article on “(Re)figuring Femme Fashion” does not only give you a tour-de-force of femme-inist aesthetics, it is highly likely that it inspires you to think and write differently…

Read more on Lamda Nordica’s homepage.

Siri Lindstad, the Norwegian queer feminist journalist and editor has just released the book Å fylle L-ordet med mening (which perhaps can be translated along the lines of, Filling the L-word with meaning).

Lindstad has travelled around Norway interviewing a wide range of lesbians from different generations, environments and places, resulting in a book of stories from lesbian communities and scenes across the country. As the press-release puts it, the book gives less attention to the ”coming out” process but focus instead on the complexities “of ‘coming in’ as a lesbian, about coming home, but also about getting away or even perhaps fall behind”.

Here is the press-relase in Norwegian:

“Kan man være lykkelig som lesbisk i Finnmark? Kan et utested uten biljardbord egentlig kalle seg et lesbested? Klarer du å kjenne igjen ei lesbe på gifteringen?

Å fylle L-ordet med mening er den første norske sakprosaboken med historier fra lesbemiljøene. Den handler lite om det å komme ut.  Derimot får du høre mye om hvordan det er å komme inn som lesbisk, om å komme hjem, men også om å komme vekk, og kanskje til og med komme bakpå.

Journalist Siri Lindstad reiste rundt i landet og snakket med lesber i alle aldre om miljøer, møteplasser og lesbiske liv. Resultatet ble en bok om kjønn, seksualitet og klasse, med tv-serien The L Word som bakteppe, og med den utskjelte traktorlesba som heltinnen.”

The book is published on the new queer feminist publishing house Kill Your Darling Press, and can be ordered here for 299 NOK.

September 23-25 the conference Queer Again? Power, Politics, Ethics is held at Humboldt Universitet in Berlin.

The final program has just been released, and it looks great with keynotes by (only!) US-based scholars: Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, Roderick Ferguson, Judith Halberstam, José Esteban Muñoz, and Susan Stryker. The conference also has contributions by a range of amazing people such as Vanessa Agard-Jones, Renate Lorentz, Ingeborg Svensson, and many many more, so I think it will be great.

The conference is free, but you need to sign up by September 1. More info here.

Trikster’s editor has been somewhat absent from the blog over the last months due to work load on other fronts, but hope to pick up some speed with news and info about good stuff happening on the queer political, theoretical, activist and academic front.

In that vein, it is great to see that Oslo Queer still keeps up arranging a queerfest, and this year the festival is held between October 1-3 between Blitz and Humla. The program isn’t ready yet, but it will be probably be good this year as well. This is what they have written so far on their homepage:

“Oslo Queer Festival is a DIY (do-it-yourself) and non-profit event. It’s a non-sexists and non-racist festival which is focused on making a space for creativity and critial thought. Except for the party on Saturday, the entire festival is free!”

Read more on their homepage.