Edi Kiseljak launches Norwegian edition of his memoir on love, HIV and prejudice

Edi Kiseljak’s book “I Am Edi, and That Is Enough” (“Ja sam Edi, i to je dovoljno”), published in Croatia in May, now has a Norwegian edition, and one with a difference: Kiseljak wrote it himself, in Norwegian. “Jeg er Edi, og det er nok”, published by Måken forlag, was launched on Wednesday, 21 October, in Fredrikstad, the town south of Oslo where he has lived since 2017.

According to the Croatian news site Index.hr, so many people came that extra chairs had to be brought in. The evening was about more than the book, touching on life, love, prejudice and support.

A conversation with his husband

The most emotional moment was a conversation on stage between Kiseljak and his husband, Arild Jensen, his partner of almost ten years. They talked about how they met, their fears and the road they have travelled together, and Kiseljak thanked him publicly for his love and support, saying openly that he might not be alive today without him.

The audience was also shown a clip from the Croatian talk show “Nedjeljom u dva”, where Kiseljak appeared in March, including an interview with his father, Ranko Kiseljak. Family, forgiveness and acceptance are central themes of the book.

Stigma in healthcare

Many in the audience were healthcare workers, and the evening also addressed attitudes to gay people and people living with HIV. Nurse Britt Andersen and infectious-disease specialist Øystein Tunheim Simonsen both stressed the value of personal testimony in healthcare. Speakers noted that prejudice persists in Norway despite medical progress: half the population still wrongly believes that people on effective treatment can transmit HIV, although it is scientifically established that someone with an undetectable viral load cannot.

Kiseljak said training healthcare workers is the key to change. In Croatia, after proceedings lasting several years, he won a first-instance ruling for discrimination he suffered at a rehabilitation centre. Next year he plans a tour of 18 Norwegian hospitals to talk to staff about stigma and how patients are treated, and he hopes similar programmes will one day reach Croatian hospitals. Silence, he said, brings no change.

The book has been backed from the start by Aksept, an HIV support organisation run by the church charity Kirkens Bymisjon. Its head, visibly moved, told the audience that the book is not primarily a story about illness but about love, human strength and the need for acceptance. The tour continues in Oslo on 3 November.

Source: index.hr. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.