In 2017 a couple of members from the Stockholm Writers Group participated in a writers conference in the United States. When they came back, one of them took a look around and wondered why we didn’t have anything close to that in Stockholm and decided to do something about it.
Stockholm does have literary events. They have the Literary Festival, which is written in English, but the majority of which takes part in Swedish and caters to Swedish speakers. Which makes sense, since Stockholm is the capital of Sweden. But there are currently no writing or literary events catering to the global language of English, and thereby inviting members of all communities to join in and become part of the magic.
Determined to change the status quo, Catherine Pettersson gathered together a team of volunteers and created the Stockholm Writers Festival. What began as a determined woman with an idea turned into a group of writers interested in bringing an English-speaking conference to Stockholm and has now blossomed into a Writers Festival that is almost sold out! (If you were interested in going, but haven’t purchased your ticket yet, I encourage you to do so before they are all gone.)
The very first English-speaking writers festival in Stockholm will take place in 2018 on April 13th-15th. I am so excited! Speakers include local writers, best-selling authors, editors, creative writing teachers, and agents from around the world. Breakout sessions are available, in addition to panel discussions. If you’re into competition, a writing contest has been established for the festival. You can read more about the details on the festival’s home page. The Stockholm Writers Group will also be hosting a booth/table where we will have information about our group, our members, and our works. I will be manning the table part of the weekend, so please stop by if you’re in the neighborhood to say hi!
Cas Blomberg Communications 