It’s been more than a decade since the infamous Handke debate exploded in the press and across social media. The backdrop was the decision to award the Austrian novelist and playwright Peter Handke the International Ibsen Award.

This debate was sparked by Øyvind Berg, who strongly opposed Handke receiving the Ibsen Prize. He criticized both Handke’s support for Slobodan Milošević and his denial or downplaying of war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, particularly the Srebrenica massacre.

Jon Refsdal Moe will discuss the controversies surrounding the 2014 awarding of the International Ibsen Award to Peter Handke. How does the Handke debate appear in today’s polarized cultural and critical landscape? Where does the artist stand when a national-conservative culture war is declared in Europe?

In light of the staging of Jeton Neziraj’s The Handke Project, we invite Refsdal Moe and Berg for a lecture about the conversation—now what? 

Øyvind Berg is a poet, writer, and translator. Berg was active in the theatre group Baktruppen from 1986-2011. He has published many books, the first poetry book Retninger, was published in 1982, and his last novel Sommeren med Balder, in 2023.

Jon Refsdal Moe is professor of dramaturgy at Stockholm University of the Arts and visiting professor of theatre studies at the University of Bergen. He was artistic director of Black Box teater from 2009-2016 and dean at Oslo National Academy of the Arts from 2016-2018. He has published two novels, several essays, and much criticism.