Shahrazad - Stories for life

In September, several ICORN Guest Writers, the ICORN Administration Center and Shahrazad - stories for life will participate in and meet with writers and translators from around the world at the second Writers' and Literary Translators' International Congress (WALTIC ) in Istanbul.

Iranian Guest Writers Asieh Amini, Pegah Ahmadi (picture) and Parvin Ardalan will participate in a Shahrazad event discussing the current situation for writers and women's rights in Iran, and ICORN will be presented in a seminar on freedom of expression. In addition to this, ICORN Guest Writer Anisur Rahman has been invited to present a paper on the impact of NGOs on literacy and literature.

When the congress was first organized in Stockholm in 2008, nearly four hundred delegates signed the WALTIC resolution demanding themselves, other organizations and institutions, enterprises, authorities and governments to take an active stand to increase literacy, safeguard freedom of expression, and strengthen authors' rights:  

"Literature is a source of knowledge with the strength to empower entire populations. WALTIC underlines the Value of Words by stating the fact that human rights are profoundly associated with the growth of literacy and to the creation and dissemination of literature of all kinds. Literacy, freedom of expression and authors' rights are keys to the never-ending pursuit of truth, for the development of societies based on democratic and humanitarian values as well as for the individual aspiring to express his or her unique knowledge and experience."

WALTIC opens on September 2, and an offer of a reduced registration fee is available until August 26.  

ICORN writers Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe), Philo Ikonya (Kenya) and Sihem Bensedrine (Tunisia) discuss literature, censorship and freedom of expression at the Gothenburg Book Fair in September.

Chenjerai Hove has lived with and related to "his" dictator since Robert Mugabe came to power in Zimbabwe in 1980. Hove was forced to flee his homeland in 2001, and is now writing an autobiographical account of his complex relationship to Mugabe from his exile in Miami. Distinguished writers Philo Ikonya and Sihem Bensedrine have also recently had to leave their native countries, currently residing in ICORN safe havens in Oslo and Barcelona. What makes writers targets of censorship and persecution in today's Africa, and how can writers counter oppressive regimes, from inside or from positions of exile? The panel is joined by prolific South African cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro ("Zapiro"), who has recently been sued by president Jacob Zuma on charges of defamation, on grounds of a drawing made by Zapiro in 2008.  

The Gothenburg Book Fair takes place on September 23-26, and this particular event will be on September 24, at 12.00. It will be chaired by Stefan Helgesson (Sweden), and is organised by ICORN and Shahrazad - stories for life .  

World Poetry Day is coming up this Sunday, and is celebrated one day early in Uppsala, as ICORN Guest Writer Anisur Rahman (Bangladesh) and former Guest Writer Faraj Bayrakdar (Syria) take part in an event dedicated to words, and to encounters between poets and audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The following day, Rahman and ICORN Guest Writer Zurab Rtveliashvili (Georgia) join a large group of colleagues to celebrate poetry and the free word in Stockholm. This event is co-organised by Shahrazad - stories for life .

World Poetry Day is on 21 March, and was declared by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the UNESCO session declaring the day says, to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements."  

(Photo: Fredrik Haglund)