05. Oct 2011

'The Words that Kill'

Photo by Birger Haraldseid (Greater Stavanger): As many as 75 000 people gathered in Stavanger in solidarity with the victims of the 22 July massacre in Oslo and at Utøya. Print current Article
Photo by Birger Haraldseid (Greater Stavanger): As many as 75 000 people gathered in Stavanger in solidarity with the victims of the 22 July massacre in Oslo and at Utøya. Print current Article

Ola Larsmo from Swedish PEN gave this year's ICORN lecture at the Kapittel 11 Festival for Literature and Freedom of Speech in Stavanger.

The 22 July atrocities in Oslo and at Utøya obviously resonated through this year's edition of the Kapittel festival programme. Larsmo's lecture addressed the spate of immigrant-related terrorist acts in Sweden and Norway over the past years, culminating in the massacre in Oslo and Utøya on 22 July. The speech considers the state of democracy and freedom of expression in modern Scandinavian society, and it examines what drives those who choose to commit acts of random violence in the name of national purity. 
 
To read the full text of the lecture in English, click here.

PDF icon ICORN Lecture Kapittel 2011 Ola Larsmo