Literature in Exile: Writers and Absence

Home → Event → Literature in Exile: Writers and Absence

What does it mean to write ‘in exile’? Find out in this discussion with noted authors Xiaolu Guo, Hassan Blasim and Edmund de Waal.

Chaired by broadcaster Georgina Godwin, the panellists look at what is lost and what is gained when writers are banished from their homelands. How can they engage with their country of origin – and the one that is now hosting them?

This event is part of the centenary celebration of English PEN. The PEN movement has worked with writers forced into exile for many decades, from the German PEN Club in exile, founded in the 1930s, through to current groups dedicated to writers expelled from Eritrea, North Korea and Iran.

English PEN Members’ 10% discount on all English PEN 100 events

Special offer: 25% off when buying tickets to 3 or more events

English PEN 100 at the Southbank Centre (24–26 September 2021)

Founded in 1921, English PEN is one of the world’s oldest human rights organisations, championing the freedom to write and the freedom to read. To mark this centenary year, English PEN 100 at the Southbank Centre gathers renowned and emerging writers, readers and activists for timely debates and discussions.

Over 30 writers, activists and thinkers explore themes of literature, exile, free expression, translation, activism and solidarity, drawn from English PEN’s rich history of protecting writers and readers across the world.

An outdoor digital artwork by artist Ai Weiwei, created for the centenary, is displayed on-site for the duration of the festival.

English PEN 100 is part of English PEN’s year-long programme Common Currency, which features events, residencies, campaigns and conversations across the UK and Ireland. Common Currency is supported by a National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England, British Council, Cockayne Grants for the Arts – a donor-advised fund of London Community Foundation, and PEN International.