Rachel Runesson was born in Lund, Sweden, grew up in Canada and Norway, and came to Gothenburg in 2024 to pursue doctoral studies in anthropology. Her slam poetry piece Sheep and Wolves was selected as Gothenburg’s entry by a jury. Slamovision Gothenburg is a collaboration between City of Literature Gothenburg, Författarcentrum Väst and Litteraturhuset Göteborg.

Tell us – who are you as a poet?

I’m not entirely sure how to define my style as a poet, but I enjoy connecting with an audience by trying to paint a vivid picture. I like to immerse myself in a concrete memory that links to broader themes people can relate to.

It’s difficult to say what inspires me exactly – perhaps it’s that very connection: trying to communicate a feeling I’ve experienced, or a realisation I’ve had, and finding ways to make others feel it too.

I often write about the body –  the beautiful and ugly things it goes through as a woman, through chronic illness and movement. That movement and rootlessness are also big themes, I think. You could probably call it identity!

I grew up listening to Leonard Cohen’s music, so I think his influence shows up here and there. There are many poets I admire, but perhaps especially Tomas Tranströmer, Carol Ann Duffy, Edith Södergran, and Maureen Onwunali. I also draw a lot of inspiration from my favourite artist, Norval Morrisseau. Even though he wasn’t a writer, the feeling in his art is something I strive to achieve through writing and performance.

Slam Poetry — "That shared moment that can’t be captured or recreated"

Spoken word and poetry slam mean delight to me – that’s really the best word for it. I love being in that setting, listening to all the poems people are brave enough to share –  good and bad – and having the chance myself to express something I want to share.

When I write for performance, it’s completely different from when I write something meant to be read. You have to sort of “translate” a poem if it’s going to move from page to mouth, or vice versa.

When performing, you have your voice, your body, and the moment with the audience. I think that’s very special – that shared moment that can’t be captured or recreated.

The poem I’m competing with is a version of an earlier piece that had been sitting with me for several years. I first performed it at an open mic night in Copenhagen, and that was the catalyst that drew me into the spoken word and poetry slam world.

About Sheep and Wolves

Sheep and Wolves is about my experiences of becoming and being a woman.

As a child, people often thought I was a boy, and that had a big influence on my experiences. The realisation that things I thought were part of my personality – like disliking pink or being “tough” – actually had their roots in internalised sexism and the patriarchy that had quietly seeped in, was deeply unsettling. Something outside myself that I had resisted had managed to creep in so deeply that I mistook it for part of me. It made me think about how fragile and exposed you are as a child, caught in a web of questions and experiences around gender, sex, society and the individual – and how we remain fragile creatures.

The event the poem centres on was something I kept returning to as I got older and wanted to understand. I wanted to break it down and analyse it. I had never repressed it, but I remember telling myself it wasn’t that bad, and I never told my parents. I wanted to understand how it had shaped me today, and where one could find strength, light, and inspiration in such an experience.

Experience Rachel and Slamovision here

Slamovision is an international collaboration between UNESCO Cities of Literature. The host country in 2025 is Ireland.

Learn more about the poetry slam competition and watch this year’s entries at Slamovision.com.

Livestream the final on Dublin City of Literature's Youtube

Rachel represents Gothenburg City of Literature – a collaboration between the city and the region. The main partners are the City of Gothenburg, the University of Gothenburg, Region Västra Götaland, the Gothenburg Book Fair, Litteraturhuset Göteborg, and Författarcentrum Väst.