nachtarbeit – Ein Abend mit Sjón

In the organizer's words:

The Icelandic artist Sjón (born 1962 in Reykjavik) became famous through his collaboration with the musician Björk and his
with the musician Björk and his lyrics for the Oscar-nominated songs in Lars von Trier's anti-musical Dancer in the Dark. His novels have been translated into 35 languages and have been awarded the Icelandic Literature Prize and the Swedish Academy's Nordic Prize. The core of his work, however, is his poetry, which he began writing at an early age (his first volume was published when he was just 15 years old). His poetry is still largely untapped in this country. The publication of the volume Bewegliche Berge (Edition Rugerup 2018) was the first attempt to remedy this situation. This was followed in April of this year by nachtarbeit (elif verlag 2024, German translation: Jón Thor Gíslason and Wolfgang Schiffer). The poems in it are taken from Næturverk (2022). Here, reports are sent out into the world "about the situation in the northernmost capital on earth" and messages are received from a trance museum. Together with Sjón, the readers follow the surrealist Pope André Breton into inner and outer realities until the two merge, and watch Alexander von Humboldt plucking the moon from the sky at the foot of Chimborazo in Ecuador. In this 117-page poem, anything seems possible, even "translations from the literature of trees" and embroidered tapestries with motifs from record covers by heavy metal band Iron Maiden.

The event will be interpreted into English and German. With the kind support of
by ECHOO Conference Interpreting

With the kind support of Icelandic Literature Center

In reading and conversation: Sjón
Moderation: Wolfgang Schiffer