| Dear friends:
Russian poet Dmitry Bykov nearly died in a poisoning, then found himself banned from teaching and pursuing his work as a public figure. Essayist Pwaangulongii Dauod received death threats for writing about queer culture in his native Nigeria. Cartoonist Pedro X. Molina watched as Nicaraguan state forces jailed his colleagues and occupied the offices of the newspaper where he published his work. Novelist Anouar Rahmani was threatened with imprisonment for writing about human rights in Algeria. All four were forced to flee their homelands and live in the writer sanctuaries in the US Cities of Asylum network (Pittsburgh, Ithaca, and Detroit). Now all four share the stage for the first time, sharing their experiences, their writings, and their commitments to creative freedom of expression. This program is the first of its kind solidarity tour between the Cities of Asylum in Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Ithaca. It is manifestation of City of Asylum's mission to protect and celebration freedom of expression and a display of the heart of commitment to providing a safe haven to exiled and persecuted literary artists.
Join us for DISSIDENCE: Exiled Writers on Resistance & Risk on Monday, September 19 at 7:00 PM. | | |  Dmitry Bykov (Ithaca City of Asylum) is one of Russia's best-known public intellectuals. He spent five days in a coma after falling ill during a speaking tour in 2019. An independent investigation blamed Russian security forces for poisoning him with the nerve agent Novichok. Bykov is currently a visiting critic at Cornell University and a fellow of the Open Society University Network.
| |  Pwaangulongii Dauod (City of Asylum Detroit) is a novelist, essayist, and memoirist from Nigeria. His 2016 essay in Granta, "Africa's Future Has No Space for Stupid Black Men," sparked a national conversation about queer issues in Nigeria. Woke Africa Magazine named him one of the Best African Writers of the New Generation. He is currently an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence at Wayne State University. | |  Pedro X. Molina (Ithaca City of Asylum) is a political cartoonist who fled Nicaragua during a crackdown on dissent in 2018. He has taught at Ithaca College and was an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence at Cornell University. Among his many honors is a 2021 Gabo Award for Excellence, a 2019 Maria Moors Cabot Award from Columbia Journalism School, and the 2018 Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award from Cartoonists Rights Network International. | |  Anouar Rahmani (City of Asylum Pittsburgh) is a novelist, journalist, and human rights defender from Algeria. He has faced legal harassment for his advocacy for individual freedom, environmental rights, and the rights of minorities, women, and LGBTQ+ people. In 2021, he was shortlisted for the Index on Censorship's Freedom of Expression Awards. He is currently an Artist Protection Fund Fellow in residence at Carnegie Mellon University. | | | About Cities of Asylum The Cities of Asylum movement was born in the 1990s, after a group of writers led by Salman Rushdie formed the International Parliament of Writers and convinced governments in several European cities to provide one to two years of support for endangered writers. These "Cities of Asylum" pledged to protect not only the physical safety of writers, but also freedom of speech and publication.
Today, more than 75 cities around the world belong to the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). In the US, City of Asylum organizations in Pittsburgh, Ithaca, Detroit, and other communities help threatened writers find jobs, housing, and legal services, and advocate for human rights and freedom of expression.
"DISSIDENCE: Exiled Writers on Resistance and Risk" is supported by a grant from Cornell University's Migrations Global Grand Challenge and the Mellon Foundation's Just Futures Initiative. The Migrations Initiative, part of Global Cornell, studies the movement of all living things through an interdisciplinary, multispecies lens, with a special focus on themes of racism, dispossession, and migration. | | - Proof of vaccination is no longer required.
- Use of masks during programs will be encouraged but optional if the COVID-19 community level is low or medium in Allegheny County, as determined by the CDC.
- Use of masks will be mandatory if the COVID-19 community level is high in Allegheny County.
| | |  The Pittsburgh International Literary Festival (LitFest '22) is a 10-day festival (starting on Saturday, September 10) that considers themes of identity and marginalization with an emphasis on literature in translation. City of Asylum is committed to producing literary programs that encourage cross-cultural exchange and this festival continues that work and the work to protect and celebrate freedom of creative expression. This literary month features a diverse array of writers and artists from 15 countries and speaking more than 11 languages. It is a true hybrid festival, with programs connecting audiences and artists in Pittsburgh and around the world, both in person at Alphabet City and online. | | | LitFest '22 is made possible by the generous support from the Allegheny Health Network, Allegheny Regional Asset District, FISA Foundation, First National Bank, Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Opportunity Fund, PA Humanities, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Posner Foundation of Pittsburgh, The Fine Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Staunton Farm Foundation, and UPMC Health Plan. | | | | | | | | |
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