Mother or Not: Guadalupe Nettel on Motherhood, Freedom and Love

Motherhood, how to define it, and how to cope with loving children are among the central questions in Guadalupe Nettel's latest book, Still Born (Sjelden fugl) .

Two close friends, Laura and Alina, have agreed not to have children, until one of them changes her mind.

She gives birth to a child with an underdeveloped brain.

Life changes for both of them: the one with the child, and the one without.In Nettel's short stories and other novels, such as After the Winter (Etter vinteren) , she raises questions about love and solitude, and how to figure out autonomy and belonging without losing oneself, friends, or lovers.

Nettel's characters can seem confused until there is sudden clarity, and her stories linger in one's memory long after reading.Ellen Støkken Dahl is the author of several non-fiction books on sexuality and the body.

In her recent short story collection Dyrisk ( Animal-Like ), she investigates borders, desire, and shame.

It is uncanny, funny, and thought-provoking.In this conversation, Mexican author Guadalupe Nettel meets doctor and writer Ellen Støkken Dahl to discuss motherhood, freedom, ambivalence, the human animal and other animals, female friendship, and how to write about it.Guadalupe Nettel is born in Mexico and raised between Mexico and France.

She is a distinctive voice in contemporary Latin American literature and has written novels including The Body Where I Was Born , After the Winter and Still Born .

Still Born was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2023.

Nettel is also the editor of the magazine Revista de la Universidad de México .Ellen Støkken Dahl is a medical doctor, author and communicator.

Together with Nina Brochmann, she has written several award-winning and internationally translated non-fiction books on the body and sexual health, including Gleden med skjeden , Jenteboka and Gutteboka .

In autumn 2025, she made her fiction debut with the short story collection Dyrisk .Photos: Germn Njera and Agnete BrunThis event is part of Kapittel - Stavanger International Festival of Literature and Freedom of Speech, 16–20 September 2026.

For more information see: kapittel.no.At selected events at Sølvberget and during the Kapittel festival, we take photos and videos for documentation purposes and for use on social media.