Kapittel - information in English

Kapittels main venue is Sølvberget Library and Cultural Centre in the heart of the beautiful Stavanger city.

Literature and Freedom of Speech

Kapittel, Stavanger International Festival of Literature and Freedom of Speech, is an annual festival organised by Sølvberget Library and Cultural Centre.

Kapittel is one of the largest and most renowned literary events in Scandinavia, with a strong focus on freedom of speech and social issues.

The festival invites around 150 guest speakers and authors to our festival featuring stage conversations, lectures, readings, documentary films and a children’s program. 

Kapittel aims to present new literary voices to the audience, and to be a venue for presenting a wide range of fiction and non-fiction authors from Norwegian and abroad.

In the excess of 10 000 visitors attend Kapittel every year.

Festival theme of 2024 is family

Every year the festival has a theme. In 2024 the theme is family.

Family is a close and, for many, a cherished concept, which at the same time can carry with it much betrayal and pain, longing and sorrow. The family can both be a protection against, but also a cause of, various forms of social exclusion. At the same time, family is also a political concept, influencing the distribution of power, freedom, privileges, duties, and responsibilities. For the development of the family and societal development are closely linked. How much does family influence who we become, the opportunities we receive, and the choices we make? What exactly is a family today, and how has our view of family influenced literature and freedom of expression, both past and present? Can a renewed understanding of family contribute to a more inclusive society? These are questions we wish to explore at Kapittel 24.

Practical information

Festival passes and tickets can be purchased at kapittel.no, or at the ticket counter on the ground floor at Sølvberget (during the festival week). Festival pass provide free admission to all events provided there are available seats. If festival pass holders want to make sure to get into certain events, they can reserve a place for 20 NOK (40 NOK for external events).

Eventual changes will be updated consecutively at kapittel.no and in social media. Follow Kapittel on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.