[1] For more on Strindberg and these new market conditions, see inparticular Ulf Olsson, Levande död: studier i Strindbergs prosa (Living Dead: Studies in Strindberg’s Prose, Symposion 1996). [2] For more on Strindberg’s portrayals of insanity more widely, see Ulf Olsson, Jag blir galen: Strindberg, vansinnet och vetenskapen (Losing My Mind: Strindberg, Insanity and Science, Symposion 2002).On P.O. Enquist’s creative crisis in relation to that of Strindberg, see Lars Lönnroth, ‘Enquists inferno’ (Enquist’s Inferno), Axess 2020:7, 58, among others. [3] Interview with P.O. Enquist in DN by Ulrika Kärnborg, ‘De svarta åren’ (The Black Years), published 06/09/2008. [4] Cecilia Sjöholm, Failures? Descartes and Dualism , translated by Clare Barnes, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond in partnership with Makadamförlag, 2024. [5] Sjöholm,p.32. [6] Sjöholm,p.43. [7] Aristotle, Poetics , chapter 9, edited and translated by Stephen Halliwell, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1995, p59. [8] Aristotle, chapter 15, p.81.

Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

Abstract illustration: geographical contour lines, coloured circles

The New Cartographers

What happens when authors redraw the map of Europe – not along borders, but along existential questions? ZEITGEISTER presents “The New Cartographers”, a cooperation between the Swedish Institute, the Embassy of Sweden in Berlin, the Goethe-Institut, and the Per Olov Enquist Prize. This literary project is inspired by Per Olov Enquist’s essay “Kartritarna”, which views imagination as a tool for new geographical and intellectual orientations. In essays, six authors from Sweden and Germany write about migration and memory, about linguistic and cultural fractures, about the struggle for belonging and the longing for new possibilities. The texts do not provide definitive answers. They open up spaces for thought and invite us to perceive Europe from unfamiliar perspectives – as a space of possibility rather than a fixed territory.

Berit Glanz Saplings and Forests

How do plants shape our culture and history? Berit Glanz explores oaks and lindens, connects Germany, Sweden and Iceland and maps the global journeys of flowers and trees. A poetic reflection on nature, memory, and identity.

Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

Saplings and forests - Berit Glanz - The New Cartographers

Amanda Svensson The Machine, or: He might as well have ghosted her

What happens when the right words no longer come? Amanda Svensson spends months training AI models – while searching for language in her own life. An intimate account of loss, hallucinations and the desperate search for words that really mean something.

Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

An illustration with black and purple elements.

Mara Lee The Coordinates of Failure, or: ‘As If’ – a Sea of (Im)possibilities

What does failure reveal about literature and time? Mara Lee interprets Per Olov Enquist’s The Cartographers as a fracture: between personal crisis, societal upheaval, and the question of how “as if” becomes a survival strategy.

Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

The Coordinates of failure - Mara Lee - The New Cartographers

Deniz Utlu The City Beneath the City. Mind Maps

How do you narrate Europe when utopias collapse? Deniz Utlu traces paths of migration, memory, and myth, from Mesopotamia to Stockholm, from Pergamon to Södertälje. A poetic essay on language, belonging, and the invisible maps of memory.

Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

The City Beneath the City. Mind Maps - Deniz Utlu - The New Cartographers

Matthias Nawrat The Golden City

What remains of grand utopias? Matthias Nawrat travels to Skellefteå in Sweden, where Europe’s green future was envisioned through a giant battery factory—only to collapse. A literary reflection on hope, transformation, and the fractures of global dreams.

Illustration: © Ricardo Roa

Aris Fioretos The Seat of Longing

What happens when we map Europe not by borders but by longings? In his essay, Aris Fioretos explores two eccentric refuges – between Neuschwanstein Castle and Villa Natur, between fantasy and reality. A story about belonging, isolation, and architecture as a headquarters of desire.

The Seat of Longing – Aris Fioretos – The New Cartographers

The New Cartographers The Essays in Swedish

“The New Cartographers” project brings together German and Swedish authors. As ZEITGEISTER is published in German and English, the Swedish language version of the essays is not included. For interested readers, we are making these available here in PDF format.

Event “The New Cartographers” at the Nordic Literature Days

The six authors involved in the project “The New Cartographers” will meet for a discussion at the Nordic Literature Days in Hamburg.

Thursday, 27 November 2025, 7 p.m.
Hochschule der Bildenden Künste, Hamburg

Partners

“The New Cartographers” is a cooperation between the Swedish Institute, the Swedish Embassy in Berlin, the Per Olov Enquist Prize and the Goethe-Institut.
The ZEITGEISTER team expresses its appreciation to everyone involved for their excellent cooperation.
We would also like to thank the authors of the essays for their wonderful texts.


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