Queens of Words

Ordens drottningar is a music and poetry performance featuring newly composed music about the era before World War II, when Yiddish culture flourished. The performance highlights a broad movement of female poets driven by artistic visions and a longing for liberation - they faced resistance, yet wrote nonetheless and left behind a treasure of poetry.

This treasure comes to life through singing in Yiddish, poetry readings in Swedish, and stories from the time when these poets were active. Ida Gillner and Livet Nord perform original compositions that range from cinematic chamber music to folk melodies and 1920s cabaret. The performance explores themes of language, history, gender equality, literature, norm critique, identity, and minority culture.

Yiddish is one of Sweden's national minority languages, and Shtoltse lider - on which the performance is based - has gained recognition both nationally and internationally for its work in bringing these Yiddish poets to Swedish audiences.