How can it be that artists bask in their flaunted queerness, while elsewhere gays are barely allowed out of the house at night – and nobody cares? How can it be that the rich get richer and richer, the educated urban elite cower in their ivory towers, while others have to be happy just to be able to afford secondary school? And above all, how can it be that the enlightened people in our western societies do not even notice all this or even encourage it with paternalistic special treatment?
Glenn Bech, provincial gay man, victim of bullying, from a family from which the good citizens on the plane turn away with a shudder, as he himself says, puts his finger in the wound of our Western, heterosexual, success-spoilt arrogance. He works his way through identity and identities, class society, social violence, the systematic defamation and discrimination of homosexuals, today, in the centre of Western Europe. On the other side is the self-righteous affluent citizen who has no idea how privileged he actually is and is correspondingly blind to the other side.
Part of Episode XXVII: “The Arts as Playground for the Urban White Middle Class”
With Glenn Bech, Sahar Rahimi, Julia Wissert & Florian Malzacher
19. March 2024 – Teatret Svalegangen, Aarhus / Denmark
In coproduction with Aarhus University, Dramaturgy Department, Teatret Svalegangen & Aarhus Teater. Supported by Goethe-Institut Denmark
Biography
Glenn Bech studied psychology at the University of Aarhus, graduating in 2017, and then attended writing school until 2019. His debut novel Farskibet (Fatherhood), published in 2021, was described by critics as an “insanely beautiful debut”, “overwhelming proof of wealth”, “strong testimony” or a “masterpiece” and which quickly made Glenn Bech a well-known author in Denmark. The manifesto Jeg anerkender ikke længere jeres autoritet (I No Longer Recognise Your Authority), published in 2022, was greeted frenetically by the press: “His manifesto is a lifeline for all those who feel oppressed and alone”, “I wish you could add a trumpet fanfare to announce that here comes a work of art. And it hurts and does good and does something”, “A very important and necessary book”. Glenn Bech was honoured (by an overwhelming majority) with the prestigious Politiken magazine literature prize and the Blixen Prize. Since then, Glenn Bech has been a much sought-after guest on radio and television, has been engaged for columns, podcasts and interviews, and has been the subject of articles and reviews in almost every newspaper and magazine in Denmark.
