Friends of Dorothy: Gay Literature and Experience

Alan Hollinghurst and Édouard Louis have long read each other’s books with great interest. While Louis has written brutally honest depictions of growing up gay in a homophobic family and environment, Hollinghurst’s fiction explores gay culture and experience through the decades, including the AIDS crisis and gay life prior to decriminalization in the UK.

While Norway marks 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalized this year, LGBT rights are being curbed around the world, and this year’s Oslo Pride ended in a fatal shooting. In such a climate, is the gay writer forced into an activist role by virtue of their being gay? Is there a pressure to represent when writing from a minority perspective?

In this conversation, Hollinghurst and Louis will talk about their relationship to each other’s books, about the role of gay literature and the plight of the gay writer. Samtalen ledes av Fritt Ord-direktør Knut Olav Åmås. 

Kristofer Folkhammar, som opprinnelig skulle lede samtalen, har dessverre måttet trekke seg. 

Foto: Fin Serck-Hanssen og Robert Taylor