29.04.2025
Drama at the Gothenburg Book Fair
The largest cultural event in the Nordics – the Gothenburg Book Fair – will spotlight drama as its main theme in September 2025. This thematic focus is being coordinated by a newly established network of Nordic and Baltic organisations, led by Theatre Info Finland TINFO, Colombine Theatre Agency, Dramatikkens Hus and Estonian Theatre Agency, with the support of institutions from all the Nordic and Baltic countries. Please mark 25-28 September 2025 in your calendars and join us for what promises to be the region’s foremost drama event of the year.
TINFO and its seven partner organisations will bring approximately one hundred playwrights and dramaturgs from across the Nordic and Baltic countries to Gothenburg for four days of seminars, discussions, performances and informal gatherings. In addition, the Book Fair will host a range of international guests, including the acclaimed German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig. The seminar programme will be published on 27 May.
This is an exceptional possibility for playwrights and dramaturgs to meet, exchange ideas, and present their work to an international audience.
A national steering committee has selected nine playwrights to represent Finland at the fair: E. L. Karhu, Leea Klemola, Pipsa Lonka, Christoffer Mellgren, Arni Rajamäki, Laura Ruohonen, Otto Sandqvist, Milja Sarkola and Saara Turunen. They will have the opportunity both to introduce their work and to engage in broader discussions about contemporary international playwriting.
The organiser’s ambition is to highlight the singular power of drama and to establish it more firmly as a distinct and vital literary genre among a wider readership. In doing so, we also aim to foster greater visibility for contemporary Nordic and Baltic drama across the region and beyond.
The Gothenburg Book Fair will take place 25-28 September 2025.
The Finnish programme at the Gothenburg Book Fair is generously supported by Svenska kulturfonden, Konstsamfundet, Kulturfonden för Sverige och Finland, Niilo Helanderin säätiö, Arvi Kivimaan rahasto, Eugène, Elisabeth och Birgit Nygréns stiftelse, Albert Salorannan säätiö and William Thurings stiftelse.
The drama network initiative is supported by the Nordic Cultural Fund.
In photos above: E.L.Karhu, Leea Klemola, Pipsa Lonka, Christoffer Mellgren, Arni Rajamäki, Laura Ruohonen, Otto Sandqvist, Milja Sarkola and Saara Turunen. Photo credits: Liisa Takala, Leea Klemola's photo album, TINFO, Labbet, Myrsky, Jaana Simula, Laura Malmivaara, Liisa Takala and Ilkka Saastamoinen.