International Authors' Stage: Faysa Idle (SE) in conversation with Emma Holten
Discover the literary comet Faysa Idle, who from the crossfire of the gang war in Sweden gives voice to the victims who rarely reach the headlines: the women - mothers, daughters, and sisters.
The Swedish author and social debater Faysa Idle is a new literary phenomenon in Sweden. She has created debate with her performance "Allt som glimmar är inte guld" and her book "A word for blod", where she writes from the middle of the gang war's crossfire. On the occasion of her publication in Danish in April, she will talk about those who are rarely seen in the headlines, but who are also affected by the gang war: the women, the mothers, the daughters and the sisters. Experience her perspectives at the International Authors' Stage in May!
The gang war up close
In 2015, a young man is shot dead in northern Stockholm. Faysa Idle knows him as her best friend. The rest of Sweden knows him as one of the founders of the criminal network Dödspatrullen. The shooting marks the beginning of a violent time in Sweden's history – friends become enemies in a single night, and soon a deadly conflict rages in the streets. Stockholm's suburbs are in flames, and Faysa finds herself in the middle of the fire.
Idle's autobiography "A word for blood" has become an important element in the Swedish debate about the gang conflicts. Because Idle speaks as a sister and friend to gang members from an otherwise underexposed position that does not get much time in the media. Idle now participates in both performances, author talks and debates, and her message is clear: She wants to give a voice to the many women who have been silent for too long, and she wants to inform the readers about how the gang war is really experienced.
In May, you can hear Faysa Idle - in conversation with Emma Holten - talk about what it is like to be an eyewitness to the horrors of the gang war, about discovering words as a light in the darkness and about the role and fate of women in the midst of murder and hopelessness.
Participants
Faysa Idle
Faysa Idle (b. 1998) grew up in the Stockholm suburb of Tensta and has lost both family members and friends in the gang conflict. Today she works as a poet and creator. "A word for blood" is a beautiful biography that gives the reader insight into the gang wars from a very special perspective: As a sister, as a family member, as a friend – and as a young woman.
Emma Holten
Emma Holten (b. 1991) is a Danish-Swedish debater, lecturer, gender policy adviser and feminist activist. Most recently, Holten has focused on women's working conditions for the lecture series "Feminist Economics" across the country.
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