LIVE in the Library Garden returns with pop, poetry and late summer idyll

Across four late summer Thursdays in August and September, you can experience poetry, music and talks in Copenhagen's probably most beautiful and most secret garden, performed by musicians, actors, poets and researchers. In the historic Library Garden between Christiansborg Palace and our old library building, LIVE in the Library Garden invites you to a poetic retreat. The event takes place under the open sky and admission is free.

The theme for this years four late summer afternoons is trust.

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We once again this year, together with the University of Copenhagen, look forward to inviting the audience into the Library Garden, where art, culture and science come together. Revolving around the concept of trust, you can meet prominent poets, some of the country's best actors, new and established musicians, and leading researchers from the University of Copenhagen.

Trust is the basis for communities, and it is the foundation of the Danish welfare society. Especially in uncertain times, trust is one of democracy's most important weapons. But what about trust today? In the future, the news, science, love – and in ourselves and each other? Art and science offer an exciting way of exploring this.

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LIVE in the Library Garden is hosted in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen.

At each of the four events, a researcher from the University of Copenhagen will give a talk about trust. The researchers are: Recor of the University of Copenhagen David Dreyer Lassen, Professor at the Department of Communication Stine Lomborg, Professor of Astrophysics Anja C. Andersen, and Professor of Sociology Bente Halkier.

New life in Royal Danish Library's collection

Royal Danish Library contains all of Denmark's cultural heritage, but we also work on ways to mix the old with the new. That is why, since 2017, we have commissioned new poems each year from leading contemporary poets, which are premiered at LIVE in the Library Garden. Poems from previous years can be read here.

This year, we are excited to present four new texts by Duncan Wiese, Caroline Albertine Minor, Nana Fatou and Christine Kærulv, who have agreed to write a text based on this year's theme. The result is four very different, sensuous, moving and polemic texts. Texts that reach back in time but also address current issues for the modern individual.

In addition to new poetry, the audience can experience iconic poems from our collection, interpreted by the country's best actors: Dan Turèll (interpreted by Andreas Jebro), Per Højholt (interpreted by Thomas Levin), Inger Christensen (interpreted by Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) and Frank Jæger (interpreted by Özlem Saglanmak).

As always, music accompanies the individual events, and this year's programme features both well-known names such as Kira Skov and brand new stars like Bukuru, Yör and the rising Swedish star Bella Leonette from Lund.

Find more information about the events here:

Read poems from previous years' events