On the occasion of The International Day of the Imprisoned Writer, Shahrazad Barcelona are hosting "Distance and Literature" in Potenza on November 30. The event features Gian Antonio Stella, Maria Barbal, ICORN Guest Writers Manal Al-Sheikh (Stavanger) and Hamza Zirem (Potenza), and Maria Rosa Salvia.
The event follows similar events in Barcelona and Agramunt two weeks ago, and includes a lecture, a round table, and a literary vigil. For more, go to the Shahrazad calendar.
ICORN, the network of which all six Shahrazad cities are members, has been established as an international membership organisation, headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. During its General Assembly in Barcelona 20-22 April, the network's current 21 member cities from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK elected the following member city delegates to form the first executive board of the new organisation:
Mr. Peter Ripken (Chair, Frankfurt City of Refuge
Ms. Dagny Anker Gevelt (Vice Chair), Kristiansand City of Refuge
Mr. Chris Gribble, Norwich City of Refuge
Mr. Philippe Ollé-Laprune, Casa Refugio Mexico City
Ms. Raffaella Salierno, Barcelona City of Refuge
60 writers, delegates and observers from more than 20 countries were gathered during the Barcelona assembly, among them representatives from and the president of Cities of Refuge North America (CoRNA), the writer Russell Banks. Since more than 30 persecuted writers from worldwide are waiting for placement in an ICORN member city, one of the first tasks for the newly elected ICORN Board will be to encourage former CoRNA cities and new European and non-European member cities of refuge to join the new ICORN organisation.
The 2009 ICORN General Assembly will be hosted by the Catalan PEN in Barcelona, April 21 and 22. This General Assembly is the fourth assembly since the network was established in December 2005, and the last one in the "old" regime of its organisation.
Since the 2008 assembly in Stavanger, the ICORN Administration Centre and the ICORN Advisory Group have been working according to the mandate given by the assembly, to draft the new organizational model for ICORN. It is for the upcoming fourth ICORN General Assembly in Barcelona to approve of and decide upon the new model, suggested to take officially effect from January 1, 2010.
In addittion to the assembly proceedings, The Catalan PEN have organised evening events featuring writers such as Horacio Castellanos Moya, Derek Walcott and Chenjerai Hove.
