About Björn Wahlström

Björn Wahlström
From Stockholm, Sweden, H.A.L. founder Björn Wahlström works in Shanghai as creator and event director for SLAMHAI!, H.A.L.’s own brand of poetry slam, and for H.A.L. LiT, HAL’s bi-monthly literary event featuring the best of Shanghai independent literature and beyond. He’s also a cofounder of the Shanghai Tunnels International Video Poetry Festival, the Shanghai-based River South Arts Festival, and is director of SLAM THEATER, with Rosita Janbacsh. In 2012 Wahlström worked as festival manager for the Bookworm International Literary Festival and co-produced with Tina Blakney a video of SLAMHAI 3, which was a featured on the arts and entertainment website bravoflix.com.

In 2011 and 2012, Wahlström’s photography and poetry was featured in Unshod Quills. His work can be seen both online at Haliterature.com and in print in Middle Kingdom Underground.

He holds a B.A. in Political Science (Berlin), a BA in Sinology (Lund), and is a Chinese language graduate from BLCU and Wuhan University. Wahlström initially came to China in September 2001 in order to further his studies of kung fu.