A safe space

Queer Situations returns, feeling more urgent and relevant than ever.

Iceland’s only queer literary festival, Queer Situations was formed in August 2024, focusing on queer literature in more than one sense: books by authors who identify as queer, but also literature that falls outside the mainstream. It returns on the 14th to 17th of May, with an exciting line up of guests and events, such as Alana S. Portero, author of Bad Habit (2023), Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties (2017) and In the Dreamhouse (2019) and the Scandinavian cohort of Lee Langvad, Beinir Bergsson, Jenny Björklund and Edy Poppy and Julian Blaue. Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir caught up with one of two organisers of the festival, Eva Rún Snorradóttir to see what is in store this year.

How are you finding your third year?

“Well, it’s not really our third year, this is very much our second festival. Our first one was in 2024, although we ran a pop up event in 2025, but officially this is the second Queer Situations festival, a bi-annual event with a smaller local line up the alternate years.”

What are you most looking forward to this year?

“Wow, it’s hard to pick a favourite among our line up. Carmen Maria Machado is probably the biggest name, I’m curious to hear what she will bring to the table. Alana S. Portero is a new favourite of mine. Her novel was so incredible. Me and Halla (Þórlaug Óskarsdóttir, the other organiser of the festival) saw her at the Louisiana festival, this is before we knew who she was, but Édouard Louis was interviewing her and we just completely fell for her, bought her book. I’m incredibly excited about them both. We also have a Nordic strand, four Nordic events and I’m looking forward to seeing how that marries together. But it’s kind of impossible to pick a favourite!”

What were your take-aways from the first festival, are you implementing any changes based on what you learnt?

“We learnt, from doing it that first time, that we had forgotten to make space in between events for interactions. It wasn’t just about showing up to listen to others or partake in the events but we realised that during the festival a mini society is formed. A really special assembly, but we had quite a tight schedule to keep. And we have loads now on as well. We didn’t mean to at first, but we had great success in finding funding for the event and producing it, so we are spoiled with riches, but this time round we have allotted more time in between events to foster conversations. We want folk to have the chance to get to know each other, soak in the atmosphere and catch up.”

Queer people all over the world feel a shift politically, and Iceland isn’t immune either, with Miðflokkurinn for instance targeting queer groups. So a festival like this is still as relevant, if not more now than before.

Having done a lot of literary festivals around the world yourself, what do you think is unique about Queer Situations?

“We discovered during the last one that what makes us unique, and Maggie Nelson mentioned this to us, is that we don’t make any recordings, making the space more private. For instance, for her, a big star coming and doing an interview, it’s unique that there are no videos made to promote the festival or the next. We don’t provide streaming options or anything like that. It makes the festival a safe space. Okay, there are some pictures taken, but no footage. So for both the authors and the audience, anyone asking a question or answering one, they don’t have to worry as much. We are often discussing political issues and it can be worrying, with time passing and issues evolving, if there’s a document that captures you posing a question or responding to one – how will that stand the test of time? So we are keen on maintaining this as a concrete rule for our festival, no recordings will be made. And that is unique.”

Looking at the line up it’s evident that you have put an emphasis on booking writers who play with form, often artists that defy genre or artform categorising, much like yourself, is that common with queer writers or something you look for in particular when curating the festival?

“Yes it is definitely something we look for. It’s important to us that the festival celebrates both content and form, we want to spotlight queer literature, even when the content isn’t necessarily queer. We want to infuse oxygen into the Icelandic literature scene and the discussion here both with the content and the forms these writers choose. So we are always ecstatic when both content and form defy expectations. That’s a bingo in our book. But it’s not a prerequisite. We have featured writers that don’t necessarily break out of the conventions of their form but we delight in experimentation.”

Your first festival was quite the statement of intent, do you feel your reasons for why a queer literary festival is needed are still relevant or has your ‘why’ changed at all?

“Yes, they are still relevant. We felt strongly when we curated the last one, in 2023, that it was needed then, but we couldn’t have foreseen how incredibly relevant it is now in 2026.

This year we had two authors decline our invitation due to not wanting to leave their home countries to attend, travelling far from their kids, including an author in the US and another in Greenland. We have sponsors that don’t feel safe in having their logo displayed in relation to the festival. In 2024 we received a cyber attack, most likely from a group online, situated abroad, that focuses on targeting queer events. We are lucky that the situation in Iceland, in general, isn’t a hostile one for the queer community. But within the global context events like these become more important by the day. Queer people all over the world feel a shift politically, and Iceland isn’t immune either, with Miðflokkurinn for instance targeting queer groups. So a festival like this is still as relevant, if not more now than before, globally as well as for Iceland.

There’s a warm up event 30th of April at Ský bar at 8pm with two musicians playing, Lay Low and Álfgrímur as well as the publishing party for our festival pamphlet, a new addition to our festival.

It’s also important, as you said earlier, to keep creating safe spaces, especially in days of social media, with a camera in every pocket, to allow for free speech.

Exactly. I’m not sure heteronormative people realise how intimidating it can be for folk to discuss certain topics, how important safe spaces are. I think that adds to the importance of these events. I also think diversity within queer culture is important. To have a queer event that is specifically about literature is really juicy. Aside from all the politics and urgency.”

For those of us who haven’t attended before, what should we expect?

“You should expect a friendly and light atmosphere. You don’t need to be a bookworm, you just need an interest in culture and society and discussion to attend. We try and keep things fun in between events as well, with dancyeoke, with a pubquiz. So expect a fun and meaningful day or evening. Hopefully you’ll be moved in some way. Everyone is welcome. Bring your high-school fam with you. This is a space for love and curiosity and unity, genuinely, all are welcome.

But first there’s a warm up event 30th of April at Ský bar at 8pm with two musicians playing, Lay Low and Álfgrímur as well as the publishing party for our festival pamphlet, a new addition to our festival, where you’ll find translations of excerpts from all our foreign guests. So it’s ideal, if you haven’t read the works of these authors to grab a copy and scan through to get a flavour of the work. It’s free to attend, the bar will be open and we’ll bring the great vibes.”

Queer Situations runs 14th to 17th of May in a variety of locations, for more information and tickets please visit: https://tix.is/en/event/21257/queer-situations-althjodleg-hinsegin-bokmenntahatid