LitHouse podcast

About LitHouse podcast

LitHouse is the English language podcast from the House of Literature (Litteraturhuset) in Oslo, presenting adapted versions of lectures and conversations featuring international writers and thinkers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

The House of Literature in Oslo - Litteraturhuset

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Oct 2016

Latest episode

12 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

144 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Contrary-Minded Women: Sylwia Chutnik and Amalie Kasin Lerstang

   From her sickbed at the nursing home in Warsaw, Stasia tells the story of her almost ninety-year-long colorful life. Without inhibition, she tells her granddaughter Magda juicy anecdotes about falling in love, horniness, drinking, politics, and her eternal struggle against patriarchal attitudes. Both women stand outside the rest of the family – Stasia because she is too much, Magda because she is trans. But they have each other. When Polish author Sylwia Chutnik is translated into Norwegian for the first time, by Julia Wiedlocha, it is to portray a bond between two vastly different women from different generations. The novel Tyłem do kierunku jazdy (Against traffic) sets a clear contrast between the two main characters: Where Stasia is combative, shameless and defiant, Magda is worn out and disillusioned. She dreams of being the life of the party, but in everyday life she tries to avoid too much attention while simultaneously navigating her relationship with the rest of the family, dating and sex, and all the daily challenges that come with living as a trans woman in today's Poland. Sylwia Magdalena Chutnik is a Polish cultural scholar, activist and author. She has published around twenty books in Polish, including children's books, non-fiction, novels, short stories and poetry, and has won numerous awards both as an author and as an activist. Her literature circles around themes such as feminism, queer perspectives, freedom and struggle. Chutnik met the Norwegian author Amalie Kasin Lerstang for a conversation about freedom, feminism and queer lives in Poland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Queer lines: Maia Kobabe and Nora Dåsnes

   Few books have faced as much resistance as Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe. The American Library Association reports that Gender Queer was the book they received the most requests to remove from libraries in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and it still ranks third for 2025. In itself, Gender Queer is not a controversial project: the book is a graphic memoir based on Kobabe's upbringing in California, from childhood into early adulthood. Maia, who has no clear concept of eir own gender, is forced into increasingly gendered patterns: at first clothes and toys, then puberty, falling in love, and sexual practice. The story follows Maia on the long search to find emself, in relation to gender expression and sexuality, but also as an adult and as an artist. Gender Queer immediately became a queer classic when it was published in 2019. Kobabe writes honestly and vulnerably about the journey to understanding eir own identity as non-binary and asexual, and has helped an entire generation of young people who are uncertain about their own gender and sexuality feel less alone. Maia Kobabe is an American illustrator, comic artist, and author, and a former librarian. Eir major work Gender Queer has won a long list of awards, and has so far been translated into 16 languages. The book has been challenged and banned from libraries across the US, something Kobabe has met with a simple response: queer youth need queer books. What role do art and literature play for young people’s search for their own identity? Nora Dåsnes is also an author, illustrator, and graphic novelist. She has explored queer identity and love herself, among other things in the comic diary Cross My Heart and Never Lie, which, like Gender Queer, has been awarded the American Stonewall Book Award. She will meet Kobabe for a conversation about identity, censorship, and drawing your own life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   14 Sept 2026

   The Craft of Writing: Elizabeth Strout and Kristina Leganger Iversen

   “I knew that I was a writer, but I had to stop writing like other writers. I had to write like myself.” Elizabeth Strout published her first novel at the age of 43, after years of writing, rewriting, and searching for a voice of her own. Today, she is among the most read contemporary writers in American letters, known for her empathetic, profound portraits of people and small-town worlds that stay with the reader and won’t let go. Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton are characters embraced by readers and critics across the world. This year saw the publication of Strout’s new novel, The Things We Never Say, about yet another everyday hero: the middle-aged history teacher Artie Dam. “Every single word matters,” Strout said when she last visited the House of Literature. How does she find the right words, in the voice that is so unmistakably her own? What writers have shaped her along the way, and where does she look for inspiration? Returning to the House of Literature for an evening about her writing life, Strout will talk about how she creates her memorable characters, the importance of observation, and how she works to bring out the extraordinary in ordinary people’s lives. On stage, Strout was joined by writer and literary scholar Kristina Leganger Iversen for a conversation about reading, writing and literary courage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Who has been a guest on LitHouse podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Leïla Slimani
• Youssef Rakha
• Soukaina Habiballah
• Abdulrazak Gurnah
• Nadifa Mohamed

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

4.3 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 33 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

52

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact LitHouse podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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