 J.M.Coetzee, Herta Müller, Amos Oz, Zadie Smith, Per Petterson, Märta Tikkanen, André Brink, Margaret Atwood, John Irving, Ko Un, Sofi Oksanen, Shaun Tan, Adonis, Antony and the Johnsons are amongst the previous guests at the festival.The festival originated from the Nansen Academy's Sigrid Undset seminaries in 1993 and 1994.