Talks

I love giving talks, especially on:

Gilgamesh and its relevance to the modern world.
Enheduana, the world’s first author.
Philology: what it is and why it matters.

To book a talk in Denmark, visit artebooking.dk/sophus-helle/. To book a talk abroad, you can reach me at: email at sophushelle dot com. Below you will find a sample of the talks, interviews and podcasts I have done in the past. (Photo: Maiken Kestner)

Interviews

Podcast, English. “The Epic of Gilgamesh” (two-part episode), The Ancients, with Tristan Hughes (4 February 2024). Link.
Video, English. “Writers for Palestine: Fundraising Against Censorship,” The People’s Forum, organized with Sophie Herron, Ricky Maldonado, and Miller Oberman (3 February 2024). Link.
Video, English. “Why Does Gilgamesh Still Matter?” MoAn Inc., with Erica Stevenson (1 February 2024). Link. Audio version.
Video, English. “Enheduanna: Voicing the Divine Feminine,” Harvard Divinity School, with Céline Debourse and musical performance of Douglas Knehans “To the Stars” (12 December 2023). Link.
Video, English. “Gilgamesh for Teens: An Interview with Sophus Helle,” with Natasha Akery (19 September 2023). Link.
Podcast, English. “Chaos Reigns,” Poetry Off the Shelf, with Helena de Groot (11 July 2023). Link.
Podcast, English. “The Poetry of Enheduana,” Great Books, with John J. Miller (23 May 2023). Link.
Video, English. Interview with Pavla Rosenstein. Yale Babylonian Collection Instagram page (29 March 2023). Link.
Podcast, English. “The World’s First Known Author.” Yale University Press Podcast (28 March 2023). Link.
Web, English. “Where Next for the World’s First Author?” Yale University Press Blog (24 March 2023). Link.
Video, English. “Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World’s First Author by Sophus Helle,” Yale University Press YouTube channel (13 March 2023). Link.
Video, English. “Who Was Enheduana,” Digital Hammurabi, with Megan Lewis (14 November 2022). Link.
Podcast, Danish. “Prinsessen der blev verdens første navngivne forfatter” (“The princess who became the world’s first named author”), 24 Spørgsmål til Professoren, Weekendavisen, with Lone Frank (24 October 2022). Link.
Podcast, Danish. “Tilbage til Babylon” (“Back to Babylon”), 24 Spørgsmål til Professoren, Weekendavisen, with Lone Frank (12 September 2022). Link.
Podcast, English. “How to Live a Lie,” How To Be Gay with Josh Thomas, with Josh Thomas (24 May 2022). Link.
Podcast, English. “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” Entitled Opinions, with Robert Harrison (9 April 2022). Google Podcast, Apple Podcasts.
Web, English. “Sophus Helle,” Full Stop, with Michael Schapira (15 March 2022). Link.
Web, English. “Was Enheduanna the World’s First Author?” AramcoWorld, with Lee Lawrence (March 2022). Link.
Podcast, English. “Superheld Gilgamesch” (“Gilgamesh the Superhero”), Mesopotastisch!, with Gösta Gabriel (9 February 2022). Link. (Obs: First 2:30 minutes are in German.)
Video, Danish. Short interview in connection with the Aarhus University Research Foundation 2021 PhD Prize. Link.
Podcast, English. “150 Years of Gilgamesh,” Thin End of the Wedge, with Jon Taylor (9 June 2021). Link.
Podcast, Danish. “Fremkomsten af forfatterfiguren i babylonske kulturer” (“The emergence of the figure of the author in Babylonian culture”), De unge forskere, Videnslyd, with Mikkel Krause (25 May 2021). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Optur for oldtiden” (“Ancient Revival”), Skønlitteratur på P1, P1, with Nanna Mogensen (31 March 2021). Link.
Web, Danish. “Jeg blev helt grebet af hende! Vidste du, at verdens første forfatter er en 4000 år gammel prinsesse?” (“I was completely capitvated by her! Did you know that the world’s first author was a 4000 year old prinsess?”), DR, by Michelle From Hoxer (18 February 2021). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Specialister” (“The Specialist”), Koncertaften, P2, with Benedikte Granvig (8 October 2020). Link.
Video, English. Presentation at the European Young Research Award ceremony, where I was awarded the 2020 Popular Prize (5 September 2020). Link. Follow-up interview with Elsevier Connect: Link.
Video, Danish. Presentation with Morten Søndergaard at the bookshop Arnold Busck, Købmagergade (12 November 2019). Link.
Podcast, Danish. Presentation with Morten Søndergaard at the Copenhagen Main Library (15 October 2019). Link.
Print, Danish. “Jagten på forfatterbegrebets 4.000 år gamle rod” (“The search for the 4,000 year old mess of authorship”), ForskerForum, with Lasse Højsgaard (6 September 2019). Link.
Print, Danish and English. “Gilgamesh: 4.000 år gammel rastløs gigant er superaktuel” (“Gilgamesh: The 4,000 year-old giant who speaks to our times”), Uniavisen, with Anders Fjeldberg (22 May 2019). English version. Danish version.
Radio, Danish. “4.000 år gammel litteratur hitter” (“4,000 year-old literature is a hit”), 24 Spørgsmål til Professoren, Radio24syv, with Lone Frank (6 April 2019). Link.
Print, Danish. “4.000 år gammel ‘superhelt’ kan lære os, at vi må indse, at vi skal dø, før vi rigtigt kan leve” (“4,000 year-old ‘superhero’ teaches us that we must face death in order to live”), Information, with Morten Søndergaard and Niels Ivar Larsen (5 April 2019). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Gilgamesh”, Tidsånd, P1, with Morten Søndergaard and Christoffer Emil Bruun (4 April 2019). Link.
Print, Danish. “Verdens ældste klassiker i ny oversættelse” (“The world’s oldest classic in a new translation”), Berlingske, with Morten Søndergaard and Søren Schauser (3 April 2019). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Gilgamesh nyoversat” (“New translation of Gilgamesh”), Kulturen på P1, P1, with Morten Søndergaard, Tore Leifer and Jesper Dein (2 April 2019). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Lost in translation”, Supertanker, P1, with Morten Søndergaard, Carsten Ortmann and Erik Skyum-Nielsen (1 April 2019). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Gilgamesh og verdens første lesbiske roman” (“Gilgamesh and the world’s first lesbian novel” – two seperate topics!), AK 24-7, Radio24syv, with Morten Søndergaard and Anders Christiansen (1 April 2019). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Enheduana”, Tidsånd, P1, with Shekufe Tadayoni Heiberg and Christoffer Emil Bruun (17 January 2019). Link.
Radio, Danish. “Det akademiske kvarter” (“The academic quarter”), Kulturen på P1, P1, with Jesper Dein and Karen Secher (29 May 2018). Link.
Print, Danish. “ Verdens første forfatter var en irakisk prinsesse, og hun skrev fuldkommen fantastisk poesi” (“The world’s first author was an Iraqi princess, and she wrote amazing poetry”), Politiken, with Anne Bech-Danielsen (18 April 2018). Link.