The construction of Blackness as the preservation of inequality
- Date: 29 March 2025, 17:30–18:30
- Location: Uppsala City Theatre
- Type: Cultural event
- Web page
- Organiser: Uppsala International Literature festival and Uppsala City Theatre in collaboration with Democracy and Higher Education
- Contact person: Linda Isacsson
A warm welcome to Uppsala International Literature Festival. For the eighth year in a row, the festival returns with the ambition to broaden the Swedish literary horizon and to draw attention to authors from cultural spheres and language areas that receive little attention in Sweden.
Johannes Anyuru (photo Maja Kristin Nylander), Logan February (photo Dirk Skiba) och Christina Kullberg (photo Mikael Wallerstedt)
The American author, poet, playwright and essayist James Baldwin is known for his controversial themes around race and sexuality. To him racial concepts such as “white” and “black” are illusions, a construction used to justify an unjust order. The essay collection “Next Time the Fire” is considered one of world literature’s strongest confrontations with segregation and oppression. Despite being published more than 60 years ago, it still inspires young poets and writers.
Two award-winning poets, Logan February from Nigeria and Johannes Anyuru from Sweden, meet here in a conversation about Baldwin’s relevance. The moderator is Christina Kullberg, Professor of French at Uppsala University, who has also been interested in Baldwin’s thought in her research.
Language: English
Registration to The construction of Blackness as the preservation of inequality
Read the full programme for The Literature festival 2025 here.