Anna Funder explores the destinies of persecuted German writers and intellectuals before and through World War II 'in her Miles Franklin Award winning novel All that I am. Using her novel as a backdrop, she asks how we can mobilize solidarity and hospitality for persecuted writers of today.
Yu Jie is the recipient of the 2012 Civil Courage Prize. He is known as one of China’s most prominent essayists and critics. Following severe harassment and persecution he fled to the US with his family in January 2012. From his new point of exile, he sees “his lifelong goal as achieving democracy and freedom in China.”
US premiere of Marion Stalens’ film documentary “Silence or Exile”
Silence or Exile, a documentary film byMarion Stalens takes an intimate look at the lives of five exiled writers who, in their pursuit for freedom of speech, have been forced to escape their home countries and build a life from scratch in their new host cities. Through these writers, the film tells a story of a violent, absurd and unjust world. Many of them have strong ties to ICORN, Philo Ikonya (Kenya) and Mana Neyestani (Iran) are current guest writers in Oslo and Paris respectively. The other writers include Horacio Castellanos-Moya (El Salvador/Iowa City), Svetlana Alexievitch (Belarus/Berlin), and Ma Jian (China/London).
Free admission