SELMA: Centre for the Study of Storytelling, Experientiality and Memory

21/09/2026

SELMA has been part of the Nordplus Higher Education Programme Project: New Approaches to Teaching Nordic and Baltic Lives (NPHE-2022/10047) together with Liepaja University, Vilnius University, Uppsala University, The Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art (University of Latvia) and University of Iceland.

Together we organized three courses on life writing at the University of Tartu, Estonia on Studying Nordic and Baltic Lives. From Theories and Methods to Creative Approaches in 2024 and 2025. The network will meet in Turku on the 22nd of September to conclude the project, and we have an open session where we reflect on teaching life writing and memory studies across Nordic and Baltic contexts and present the activities and achievements done during the project.

Welcome to hear more on Tuesday 22nd of September at 13.30-14.45, place Laine meeting room, 2nd floor Arcanum.

17/09/2026

Tervetuloa pohtimaan autoetnografiaa ja refleksiivisyyttä humanistisissa tieteissä!

Torstaina 1.10. klo 13-16
Arcanum, A113
Vapaa pääsy, vegaaninen kahvitus osallistujille

Lisätietoja nettisivuiltamme (linkki kommenteissa).

31/08/2026

Maksuton täydennyskoulutus kerronnallisuuden toimijuuden lukemismenetelmästä!

https://sites.utu.fi/narg-project/news/opettajat/

05/08/2026

Registration for ABOAGORA: Mercury, the Winged Messenger, 23–25 September, is open!

This year’s ABOAGORA – the meeting place for science and art creators and the public – examines ‘winged words’ and metaphors in science, art, and society, their effects on communication and public discourse, and the impacts of climate change on the animal world, such as the migratory routes of birds. The three-day event will be held for the 16th time at the Sibelius Museum in Turku, from 23 to 25 September 2026.

Read more: https://www.aboagora.fi/2026/06/02/registration-for-aboagora-mercury-the-winged-messenger-23-25-september-is-open/

02/03/2026

Open call for a training workshop on the narrative agency reading group model - link in the comments!

02/03/2026

Reminder - film screening of "Une Famille" (A Family) tomorrow, 18.00!

Synopsis: Award-winning French writer Christine Angot goes on a business trip to Strasbourg where her father lived before dying several years ago. It is the city where she met him for the first time at the age of 13, and where he sexually abused her over the following years. His wife and children still live there. Angot takes a camera and knocks on the doors of her family to push them to clarify their attitudes to her father’s crime that stretched over so many years. A cinematographic journey that challenges social norms and family perspectives in dealing with in**st.

SELMA and the Department of French Language and Literature at Åbo Akademi University invite you to two public events on the topic of in**st and literature. The first one is a free film screening and premiere in Finland of Christine Angot's (2024) film "A Family" which will take place on Tuesday 3rd March, 18:00-20:30 in the Aava Lecture Hall, Aracanum building, at the University of Turku, Arcanuminkuja 1. The film will be in French with English subtitles. It will be followed by an optional 30 mins discussion for those who wish to participate.

Synopsis: Award-winning French writer Christine Angot goes on a business trip to Strasbourg where her father lived before dying several years ago. It is the city where she met him for the first time at the age of 13, and where he sexually abused her over the following years. His wife and children still live there. Angot takes a camera and knocks on the doors of her family to push them to clarify their attitudes to her father’s crime that stretched over so many years. A cinematographic journey that challenges social norms and family perspectives in dealing with in**st.

The film screening is open to all. The second event is a reading circle (more info coming soon!) on Tuesday 17th March, 16:30-18:30 at Åbo Akademi University.

20/02/2026

SELMA and the Department of French Language and Literature at Åbo Akademi University invite you to two public events on the topic of in**st and literature. This second event is a reading circle during which we will discuss Neige Sinno's book "Sad Tiger", among others (see link to information sheet on the visual and below for more reading suggestions). The reading circle will take place on Tuesday 17th March, 16:30-18:30 at in the Voltaire (M127) room in the Arken building at Åbo Akademi University, Tehtaankatu 2. Online registration for this event can be done here: https://shorturl.at/2cq2u

The aim of this reading circle is to think with the literature on in**st, its social and political significance in specific cultural contexts, as well as the ways in which the authors write the subject of in**st. We will be curious about the relationship between literature and in**st in these books and for the authors. It will also be an opportunity to de-mystify in**st by discussing what it actually is according to victims/survivors, experts and grassroots collectives and reflecting on what is socially and culturally at stake within the question of in**stual abuse. No prior knowledge of these topics are needed to join. The reading circle is open to all who can manage to read some parts or the entirety of one of the books suggested on the information sheet (see link below and on the visual). Books can be read in French, English, Finnish or Swedish based on the available translations.

Also check out the film screening and discussion taking place on Tuesday 3rd March, 18:00-20:30 at the University of Turku. To learn more about these events, read: https://shorturl.at/2cq2u

11/02/2026

SELMA and the Department of French Language and Literature at Åbo Akademi University invite you to two public events on the topic of in**st and literature. The first one is a free film screening and premiere in Finland of Christine Angot's (2024) film "A Family" which will take place on Tuesday 3rd March, 18:00-20:30 in the Aava Lecture Hall, Aracanum building, at the University of Turku, Arcanuminkuja 1. The film will be in French with English subtitles. It will be followed by an optional 30 mins discussion for those who wish to participate.

Synopsis: Award-winning French writer Christine Angot goes on a business trip to Strasbourg where her father lived before dying several years ago. It is the city where she met him for the first time at the age of 13, and where he sexually abused her over the following years. His wife and children still live there. Angot takes a camera and knocks on the doors of her family to push them to clarify their attitudes to her father’s crime that stretched over so many years. A cinematographic journey that challenges social norms and family perspectives in dealing with in**st.

The film screening is open to all. The second event is a reading circle (more info coming soon!) on Tuesday 17th March, 16:30-18:30 at Åbo Akademi University.