Torrey Peters: The United States Lives in Two Realities, and One Is Nearing Chaos

Torrey Peters remembers her visit to Finland with unusual warmth. During the 2023 Helsinki Lit festival, Finland was caught up in Käärijä fever, and the author still listens to “Cha-cha-cha” on her runs.

“Around the time of the Eurovision final, people were singing and dancing in the streets. It was an enormously fun evening,” Peters says.

The award-winning American writer discusses the turbulent reception of her first novel, trans art and the political situation in the United States. She also argues that the trans experience can offer a shared way of looking at how people navigate gender.

The interview presents Peters as a careful and elegant speaker. She answers questions thoughtfully, but her expression changes when the conversation turns to Finland and the memory of that visit.

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Around the time of the Eurovision final, people were singing and dancing in the streets. It was an enormously fun evening. I still listen to that song, Cha-cha-cha, on my runs.