Just over a week ago I attended my first ever writing workshop at the 2026 Stockholm Writers Festival. It was a full day dedicated to the craft of writing. What attracted me to this annual festival in particular is that it is fairly close to home (Stockholm is a mere 90-min flight from Amsterdam), participation is limited to just seventy people (which ensures a more intimate setting allowing interaction and connect with fellow scribes and poets), and the agenda was focused on both the art and business of writing (killing two birds with one stone).
The day began bright and early at The Swedish Museum of History (Historiska Museet) just after 8:30 AM, with a welcome speech from the founder of the festival, Catherine Pettersson. After this, participants were divided into two groups of thirty-five participants for the two different workshops. I was assigned to the group focused on the craft of writing in the morning, with Tiffany Yates Martin, an internationally recognized developmental editor. In the afternoon we would then switch to a different instructor, Jane Friedman, who would teach us about all things related to the business and marketing side of the literary world. Jane also delivered the keynote at the end of the day on the tantalizing and highly relevant topic on “The Truth About AI and the Future of Writing.” Both instructors were extremely knowledgeable, skilled in their domains of expertise and eager to help aspiring authors break through. I definitely felt that they were both approachable and genuinely wanted to help authors have the highest chance of succeeding in the tough world of literature.
Equally impressive were the people that I had the privilege of meeting at the festival. Many attendees were quite accomplished writers, poets and even university lecturers in their own right. I was astounded by the calibre of the participants and the quality of their writing resumés. Most participants were not inexperienced, wet behind the ears novices, but rather had real literary experience and even modest success. Although this realization at first made me slightly intimidated, I soon realized that in spite of this everyone I encountered was affable and welcoming. It felt as though I had finally found a tribe of like-minded people passionate about writing, reading and talking about literature.
One of the most memorable conversations that I had, among many, was with a poetry professor attending the festival. We spoke for fifteen minutes or so about the writing of Han Kang since we both share a deep passion and admiration for the astounding haunting beauty of her prose. She melds the world of poetry and literary fiction seamlessly. Kang in many ways is a poet who writes literary fiction and not the other way around. Each line she writes is a mesmerizing distillation of profound depth of feeling that one rarely encounters in contemporary literature. Her words linger with you for hours, even days on end, perhaps even keeping you up at night. This conversation reminded me of the awesome power of literature to touch and inspire people across cultures, languages and geographies.
I’m keenly looking forward to next year in Stockholm, which will be the 10th annniversary of this very special writers festival!
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