The event is part of the Festival of Non-Fiction 2025. See the full program here.
From Órban’s Hungary to Trump’s USA to Modi’s India, authoritarian forces are gaining ground all over the world. What tools do we have to defend democracy?
Philippe Sands is a world leading lawyer and thinker, as well as the author of a number of award winning and critically acclaimed books. In East West street, The Ratline and 38 Londres Street, he describes a very particular period in European history, as well as the establishment of international law and human rights.
In this lecture, Sands will explore how law and literature can be used against fascism and authoritarian power, and help protect democratic institutions. Drawing on his own books, as well as texts by Roberto Bolaño, Bruce Chadwin and Pablo Neruda, he will address the complex lines that divide fiction and fact, and explore what tools literature offers that lawyers cannot make use of.
This event marks the opening of the Festival of Non-Fiction 2025, and will be introduced by representatives from the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers’ and Translators’ Association (NFFO) and The House of Literature Foundation.
The lecture will be in English.
