Inspired by the poetry of Solmaz Sharif

Learn more about the poet that inspired the biennial’s title! 

Meet poets Leila Inanna Sultan and Jennifer Hayashida, translator of Solmaz Sharif’s poems into Swedish, in a conversation about political poetry. 

An afternoon of readings and conversations based on Solmaz Sharif’s work and the lyrical and political poetry collection LOOK, published in Swedish by Rámus förlag.
Event organised by Skövde Art Museum and Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art in conjunction with the Skövde Book Fair. 

Jennifer Hayashida is a poet, artist, and translator across Swedish and American English. Among others, she translates Merima Dizdarevic, Athena Farrokhzad, Sara Lidman, Don Mee Choi, and Kim Hyesoon. She is a PhD candidate in artistic research at HDK-Valand as well as an instructor at Författarskolan, Biskops Arnö Nordens Folkhögskola. 

Leila Inanna Sultan is a writer based in Stockholm. She has studied at Biskops Arnö’s writing school and works in a library. Her debut book of poetry was published in March 2025 by Norstedts, and explores the field of tension between the humane and the dehumanizing, against a backdrop of the state’s mechanisms of asylum processes, detention and deportation.