Henning Gärtner

I am a Norwegian writer, theatre-maker, and global educator. Since the early 2000s, I have worked around the world to explore art as a vehicle for transformation.

As a teacher of literature, performance and theatre I have worked with students from more than sixty different countries in the United World Colleges of India and Germany. I also give talks and workshops to artists and academics.

I recently worked as the Berlin City Experience Manager for Minerva University. I created and hosted events – anything from art exhibitions to workshops and panel discussions, and I facilitated collaborative projects with partners in the city.

As a writer I am currently working on a memoir that explores gay shame, childhood, and the transformative power of art. I publish essays on artists that have had a strong impact on me, such as Marina Abramovic, Sarah Kane, Pasolini and John Berger. I have written for several of the leading newspapers and journals in Norway and Scandinavia, and my literary work has also appeared in anthologies like Kolon’s Gruppe 10. I was the editor of Barfot (Gyldendal, 2002 – co-ed. Astrid Urdal), the first anthology to collect stories of young LGBTQ Scandinavians.

As a theatre maker I have worked in Seattle and Jerusalem, Norway and India. I have worked with the prize-winning duo Vegard Vinge & Ida Müller, and at the National Theatre of Palestine. My play Career Constructivisms or Free your Fucking Mind (with Julian Blaue) won a national prize for drama and was performed at the National Stage (DNS) in Norway.

Education

• BA Honors (4 year) Universitetet i Bergen (UiB) (1996 — 2000)
• Stockholm University of the Arts (2022)
• Författarskolan Biskops Arnö (2022 — 2023)

Companies

• Experiential Education Manager Minerva University (2023)
• English Teacher Berlin Metropolitan School (2023 — 2023)
• Associate Lecturer Arden University (2021 — 2023)
• City Experience Manager Minerva University (2019 — 2020)
• Writer of Creative Non-Fiction Stiftelsen Fritt Ord (2016 — 2020)
• Freelance Literary Critic and Translator Klassekampen (2017 — 2019)
• Freelancer in Publishing Gyldendal Norsk Forlag (2006 — 2018)
• Teacher of English Literature UWC Robert Bosch College (2015 — 2016)
• Head of Visual & Performing Arts, Teacher of Literature, Performance and Theatre UWC Mahindra College (2012 — 2015)