THE SWEDISH BEEST
a poetry film
From a lonely London a figure calls out for the lost poets and three Swedes will answer, each in their own way, with poetic precision and desolate northern sensibilities. The Swedish Beest is less than a cry for help and more than a poetry film; it is a documentary of those who are not there, a gathering of readings out of time and place.
Supported by supported by The Embassy of Sweden, London. A film by Steven J Fowler. Starring Aase Berg, Jonas Gren and Ida Börjel. Music by Benedict Taylor. Edited and photography by David Spittle.
A film as part of the European Poetry Festival Digital program. With no physical events in 2020, EPF digital reveals what can be created without proximity, generating new insights into poetic practice in continental Europe and creating ambitious film-poetry collaborations especially for this two week e-fest.
One of Sweden’s most important contemporary poets, Aase Berg is the author of numerous collections of poetry, including Hos rådjur (With Deer, 1997); Mörk materia (Dark Matter, 2000); Forsla fett (Transfer Fat, 2002), which was nominated for Sweden’s Augustpriset; Uppland (2005); and Loss (2007), among others. She is also the author of two books of criticism, a YA novel, and, most recently, the novel Haggan (2019). Poet Johannes Göransson has translated six of Berg’s books into English: Remainland: Selected Poems (2004), With Deer (2009), Transfer Fat (2012), Dark Matter (2013), Hackers (2015), and the essay collection A Tsunami from Solaris (2019), with Joyelle McSweeney. Berg's writings have been translated into numerous other languages.
Ida Börjel (born 1975) is a Swedish poet. Börjel was born in Lund. She made her literary debut in 2004 with the poetry collection Sond, for which she was awarded Borås Tidnings debutantpris [sv] in 2005. Further books are Skåneradio from 2006, and Konsumentköplagen from 2008. Her poetry book Ma from 2014 was nominated for the August Prize. She was awarded the Dobloug Prize in 2018.
Jonas Gren, Swedish poet and writer, lives in Uppsala. Author of five books of poetry, among them Antropocen (Anthropocene) from 2016. At the moment he is writing his first novel, A thousand tiny volcanos. The untitled, improvised poem in three parts was filmed by the poet and recorded at the premises of Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 16th November 2020.
