Kaffe Kid is the cosiest venue at Gothenburg Fringe 2026. With 2 for 1 coffee, homemade soup and resident good-boy Bliksten, Frederick has graciously given us his time and space for the duration of the festival. The intimate venue hosts equally intimate performances: none quite like a live reading of the queer poetry anthology Made of Magic: poetry of rage and (be)longing. Written and performed by Jude Firesong, Made of Magic is a collection of poetry exploring the lived experience of being a non-binary transmasculine trilingual disabled artist. Full of raw emotion, brutal honesty and the occasional jab of dark humour, Made of Magic was an incredible, intimate and tender performance.
Each poem was brimming with love, passion and heartache which was palpable in the room. You could have heard a pin drop in the dimly lit room gently flickering with the full spectrum of colours, and Jude himself is such a mesmerising character with such a gift for human connection that the hour-long performance elapsed in but a moment.
The queer experience is so unique that it is universal yet entirely personal and I could only imagine the thoughts and memories these poems (and the original artwork accompanying each reading) were conjuring for each individual person in the audience. Life imitates art, and this was never as prevalent than during that one quiet hour in a cafe on a rainy evening in Gothenburg.
Firesong has only two published copies of the Made of Magic anthology, but if it gains enough interest it could become many more – and I would recommend anyone to purchase a copy. Love the art, support the artist. Don’t forget to follow @fabulousphoenixboy on Instagram!
Ceri Taylor
