Escape from Tyranny - Writing In Exile

Apart from being a personal catastrophe, exile can have a profound impact on the way we write, throwing into question the most fundamental aspects underpinning writing. Who is the audience of the writer in exile? Does the writer who left have the right to speak for, about, or to those who remain? How does the writer negotiate feelings of distance and belonging? Every society suffering from tyranny has its own story, and every writer in exile’s experience is unique—but as with grief, shared themes and commonalities emerge. PEN America invites Masha Gessen, Anna Nemzer, Murong Xuecun and panel moderator Ilya Venyavkin—authors and journalists who have first-hand experience of exile from oppressive regimes—into conversation about transformations they have experienced.