The Poetry Festival Bagdad Café
In the end of August and the beginning of September, Stockholm plays host to an international poetry festival going on all over Stockholm called Bagdad Café.
Arranged as a collaboration between several cultural organisations and with the focus is on young Palestinian, Mexican, Romanian, Chinese, Iranian and Swedish poets, the festival presents workshops, seminars and presentations of high literary quality.
We asked one of the producers, Swedish-language poet the poet Jasim Mohamed, a few questions.
What is the poetry festival Bagdad Café?
Poetry Festival Bagdad Cafe is a poetic journey through the modern poetry of the world. We start in Gaza and Bethlehem, then continue the trip through Mexico City and Teheran, and finally we are in Stockholm and Uppsala. One could say that the festival is a meeting place for poets from various different poetic traditions and language. It is also a training center where we take note of what we do not know much about.
What is the goal of the festival?
To create a possibility for poetry as an art form to come out in the public domain and play a role in the cultural life of the city.
Poetry Festival Bagdad Café is on in Stockholm and Uppsala, before moving on to Malmö and Göteborg. Catch it at Tensta Konsthall, Kulturhuset Studion, Uppsala stadsbibliotek plus more locations between Aug 3rd and Sept 3rd.
To find out more, check out the festival program at
