»Writing and Exile« - A Reading and Talk with Lubna Abou Kheir, Wagdy El Komy and Aaiun Nin

November 9th 2023, 7 pm, Robert Walser-Zentrum

Moderation: Ana Sobral (Artistic Director of Weiter Schreiben Schweiz)

At the Robert Walser Centre, authors Lubna Abou Kheir, Wagdy El Komy and Aaiun Nin will discuss what it means to write from a new position, away from their country of origin, which they had to leave due to political persecution. What does it mean to write critically about repressive regimes from afar? How does the country of origin appear from a distance, in exile - what changes, what comes to the fore?

The Robert Walser Centre houses the literary estate of Carl Seelig. During the time of the Nazi regime, Seelig worked intensively with authors on the run and in exile. The selection Carl Seelig: Briefwechsel (Carl Seelig: Briefwechsel), which documents this commitment, was recently published from the literary estate (Suhrkamp 2022).

Lubna Abou Kheir studied dramatic writing at the University of Damascus. Since 2016, she has been living in Zurich as an author, theatre scholar and actress. Her debut as a playwright in Switzerland was with the play Damaszener Café at the Theater Tuchlaube in Aarau. Since then, further engagements have followed, including at the Kaserne Basel and the Theater Neumarkt in Zurich.
Wagdy El Komy, born in Cairo in 1980, is a multi-award-winning Egyptian writer. The Book of the Mother (daftar ummî), published in 2022, is his sixth novel to date. His texts reflect the Egyptian present in its many contrasting facets. Kheir and El Komy are part of the project Weiter Schreiben Schweiz. At this evening's event, Aaiun Nin will also take part in the discussion. Aaium Nin is from Angola and moves between poetry, mixed-media art and activism. Aaiun Nin is currently completing an "International Cities of Refuge Network" ICORN residency in Bern, Switzerland.

Talk and reading will be held in English and German.
Duration: 60 min

Free admission.

An event by Weiter Schreiben Schweiz in cooperation with the Robert Walser-Zentrum and the Swissgerman PEN Centre.