Book Launch – Saturday, April 5, at 6:00 PM

This year’s festival explores the theme MATER—the Latin word for mother—linking biological motherhood with our cultural heritage and the physical world. It reflects how the maternal is deeply woven into our language through words such as materiality, matter, and Mother Earth.

In light of this theme, we are pleased to present the new anthology Living and Learning with Feminist Ethics, Literature, and Art.

The book is a comprehensive collection of research-based essays and artistic investigations that examine feminist ethics in both theory and practice. It opens up new perspectives on how we can understand and relate to the world, with a particular emphasis on identity, culture, and knowledge.

A diverse group of scholars, literary critics, and artists have been invited to explore feminist ethics through the lenses of gender theory, critical race theory, and posthumanist approaches. With sharp analyses and timely reflections on ethics and care, the book sheds light on how literature, art, and academia can contribute to addressing some of today’s political and societal challenges.

The event will feature a conversation with Libe García Zarranz and Amanda Fayant, two of the anthology’s editors, and one of the contributing artists Sissel M. Bergh. The artist Damien Ajavon and the director, Carl Martin Rosenkilde Faurby, will also join the conversation.

“Living and Learning with Feminist Ethics, Literature, and Art” is published by University of Alberta Press. Editors is Dominique Hétu, Libe García Zarranz, Amanda Fayant, and Marie Carrière.

See list of contributors: https://ualbertapress.ca/9781772127713/living-and-learning-with-feminist-ethics-literature-and-art/

The event is organized with support from the Department of Teacher Education at NTNU.

Libe García Zarranz is Professor of Cultural Theory and Literatures in English in the Department of Teacher Education at NTNU. She is also Research Affiliate for the Centre for Literatures in Canada (CLC) at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her research sits at the intersection of contemporary literary studies in Canada, visual studies, and affect theory, with a focus on feminist, queer, and trans approaches. She is the author of TransCanadian Feminist Fictions: New Cross-Border Ethics (McGill Queen’s University Press, 2017) and the co-editor of Living and Learning with Feminist Ethics, Literature, and Art (University of Alberta Press, 2024. She is the leader of the research group TransLit: Sustainable Ethics, Affects, and Pedagogies at NTNU. Born and raised in Spain, she currently teaches and researches in Trondheim

Amanda Fayant is a Cree, Métis, Saulteaux, and French artist who holds a BFA in film production and a Master of Philosophy in Indigenous studies. Currently based in Trondheim, Norway, she is originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, which is situated on Treaty 4 land. Her artistic practice is deeply rooted in her connection to the natural world and is informed by Indigenous and Métis methodologies. Amanda integrates Indigenous feminisms into her work, addressing the colonial history of Canada through various artistic mediums. As a published poet and author, she explores significant themes including identity, ecological interconnections, and historical reflections from an Indigenous and Métis viewpoint. Her master’s thesis, titled "Thunderbird Women: Indigenous Women Reclaiming Autonomy through Stories of Resistance," has been presented at various conferences and workshops, underscoring her experience in the field.

Sissel Mutale Bergh is an artist based in southwestern Sápmi in Tråante/Trondheim and Fovsen/Fosen, workin with film, sculpture, installation, painting, drawing and text. For the last 15 years, Bergh has been tracing the presence of Southern Sámi along the coast in the regions of Møre and Trøndelag, documenting the importance of Sámi culture past and present. She examines Sámi place names, words, sacred and sacrificial sites, mountains, memories and myths to reveal how the Southern Sámi language acts as a key to uncover the past, recover from the epistemicide and thereby help us reconnect with the land and its. Her recent exhibitions include: “Rocks, paper, scissors” at Kiasma, Helsinki (2025), “Common thread” at MoCNA/IAIA Santa Fe, USA (2024), “Earthworks” at Bergen Kunsthall (2024), “Giltebe!” at LevArt, Levangke/Levanger (2023), “Speaking Back” at Kunsthaus Hamburg, Germany (2023), “Kunna, Guanna, Concha” at Kunsthall Trondheim, Norway (2023); and “I Call It Art” at the National Museum, Oslo, Norway (2022).