Oliver Vass is the founder and publisher of Sic Publishing, an independent publishing and documentary initiative based in Lillehammer, Norway.
His work focuses on literature, oral history, freedom of expression, migration, political repression, and the role of storytelling in shaping public understanding across borders.
Originally from the United Kingdom, Oliver studied Economics at the University of Exeter before completing a master’s degree in International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London.
Before settling in Norway, he lived and worked across several countries in Africa and South America. These experiences helped shape a long-term interest in international affairs, lived experience, and the human consequences of political and social systems.
Sic Publishing
Oliver founded Sic Publishing from the belief that publishing can be more than distribution alone. It can also create space for testimony, cultural exchange, documentation, translation, and public conversation.
The publishing house works across books, oral history, documentary projects, translation, and collaborative cultural work, often focusing on voices shaped by exile, censorship, migration, conflict, and social change.
Projects developed through Sic Publishing include:
- The Last Kiss — a bilingual Persian–English poetry collection by Mehdi Mousavi
- Documenting Gender Apartheid — an oral history and documentary initiative collecting first-hand testimony around systemic gender repression
- AES-451 — research and practical work exploring the protection of writers and vulnerable voices in hostile digital environments
Approach
Oliver’s work is interdisciplinary by design, combining publishing, documentary practice, communications, oral history, and public engagement.
A recurring focus across projects is creating space for people to speak in their own words, particularly when their experiences are frequently simplified, politicised, or spoken about from a distance.
This has included work with writers, translators, artists, researchers, cultural institutions, grassroots organisations, and freedom of expression networks in Norway and internationally.
Lillehammer
Sic Publishing is based in Lillehammer, Norway — a UNESCO City of Literature and home to several organisations connected to literature, freedom of expression, and international cultural exchange.
The city’s literary and international environment has played an important role in shaping the direction of Sic Publishing and its collaborative projects.
