Voices of Freedom: Freedom in the poems and stories of exiled writers

Voices of Freedom
Freedom in the poems and stories of exiled writers

y (two books), novel (Arcadio) and pedagogy (bilingualism). He is also a polyglot and human rights actiPEN Canada - Writers in Exile organized a cultural event, the first in a series of activities aimed at listening to poetry readings, and the stories of exiled writers and refugees in Canada. The event is "Voices of Freedom" on last Sunday 12th June, in Toronto.
The literary event was attended by a number of Canadian writers and journalists, the writers in exile/refugees in Canada, and Grace Westcott, President of PEN Canada, and Brendan de Caires the Executive -dir-ector. The event was presented and moderated by Canadian writer Keith Leckie.
The event was hosted a writers from Colombia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. These journalists, novelists, poets and human rights activists are survivors of repressive regimes who fled to Canada. While their jobs in Canada have led them to new livelihoods, they continue to write to remain connected to their purpose and passion.

Their short stories and poems are filled with haunting memories, longing for their homelands, the promise of a better life in Canada, compromises, reconciliation, and the hope and love that keep them going.
This event it was dedicated to the memory of Aaron Berhane, the former Chair of PEN’s Writers in Exile group, who passed away last year from Covid19 at the age of 52. He was the publisher of the first independent newspaper in Eritrea and was forced to flee his country after the government cracked down on the media, arresting several journalists and editors who were never seen again. Aaron s daughter will read a passage from his memoir, which will soon be published.
The writers participating in this event, read in front of the audience, stories and poems, inspired by their experiences in life, in their countries of origin, their struggle for freedom, and the challenges in exile. There were stories of escaping death, of arrest, of living in camps. The Syrian ordeal was present in this event, through the story of the Iranian writer Amir Yazdanbad, and in the poems of the Syrian poet Abdul rahman Matar, who’s read a long poem "Snow Banks... The Wine of coals" in Arabic, then he read other passages in English. His poem deals with the poet s relationship with places between his original homeland, where dictatorship, injustice, death and destruction, and the new homeland, which provides him with protection, and protects his rights to freedom and to live in safety.
Onder Deligoz read a short story he wrote on a terrible night he lived in Turkey. He had to burn some of his books, which were classified as evidence of terrorism, by the government, after the attempted military coup in 2016. Even the books of Baruch Spinoza and Albert Camus, they were classified as a member of a terrorist organization...if they were alive. He says: Burning books has been a traumatic experience for me, and it is clearly a great sign to understand what Turkey has been through for so many years.
Onder, an exiled journalist and writer from Turkey. Worked for various national newspapers and a national news channel as a reporter, editor and editor in chief in Turkey. Currently works as a social media analyst for an IT company. Recipient of 2018 PEN Canada-Humber College Scholarship Program and 2019 Diaspora Dialogues Longterm Mentorship Program. Author of the novel Love After You Have Gone (In English and Turkish).
Freweini Berhane: She read a chapter of her late father Harun Burhani s memoirs, which will soon be published in a book. In it, he talks about the birth of the idea of establishing the first private newspaper in Eritrea, the many challenges, and the problems of government and security oversight on freedom of the press and freedom of expression, as the newspaper was closed, and Harun fled abroad.
Freweini is from Eritrea, who fled the country at 16. She arrived in Canada in 2010 to reunite with her father. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a double major in Human Biology and Health Studies, and later obtained a Regulatory Affairs certification from Algonquin College. She worked as a clinical research coordinator at a family medical centre and is looking to pursue further education in the medical field and public health.
Gezahegn Mekonnen Demissie: Ethiopian writer,journalest, and filmmaker, he is Chairing the Writer’s in Exile group of PEN Canada. He is read a short story.
Abdulrahman Matar, a Syrian writer and journalist resident in Canada since 2015. He has published five books in poetry, short stories, novels, and political studies. His novel has been translated into English, and will be published later, and a joint book (with refugee writers) will be published for the stories of the book in exile next year. He is the -dir-ector of the Syrian-Mediterranean Cultural Forum in Canada. He writes in the Arab press. Matar is Membership of: Syrian writers Association (Board Member ) , PEN Canada, The Writers’ -union- of Canada. He is a winner the Arts Commitment Award: Multicultural Happening – Toronto 2021
Pedro A. Restrepo is a writer, journalist and interpreter. Winner of a prestigious National Recognition in literature granted by Colombia’s Education Ministry (2002). He is the author of several books in genres such as poetrvist.
Pedro read beautiful, interesting poems (Shadows - the immigrant) that are also about asylum, security pursuits, and life between Colombia and Canada, in both English and Spanish.
Amir H. Yazdanbod Born in 1977 in Tehran, Amirhossein studied philosophy and physics, but later changed his area to computer engineering. He started writing fiction in 2004 and his short story “For Marcia, the Dear Scoundrel” won Golden Pen short fiction prize in 2007. Amir’s first collection of stories, The Portrait of the Incomplete Man (Cheshmeh, 2009) won two national book prizes, “Golshiri” and “Gam-e Avval” and re-print-ed six times. His latest work Stutter (Ofoq, 2013), a political novel that occurs in Iran, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan, addresses the issues of neocolonialism and Western intervention in the region. His later works faced heavy censorship and didn’t get the publication license from The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

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