Discussion
Literatures in Exile: Mubeen Khishany & Stella Gaitano

Tue, 11.06.2024
7:00 PM Kunsthaus ACUD

What do the work, experiences and realities of authors who have had to leave their home countries due to war or political repression and now live in Berlin or Germany look like? In regular evening events in the Literatures in Exile series, two authors from different countries present their texts and discuss their experiences of exile as well as opportunities and challenges in the (German) literary scene.

On 11 June 2024, the South Sudanese writer and human rights activist Stella Gaitano and the Iraqi writer and journalist Mubeen Khishany will share the stage. The evening will be moderated byliterary scholar and critic Dr. Maha El Hissy.

The focus will be on the mediation and examination of the writers' artistic positions and works. In addition, structural questions will also be discussed, such as the connection to literary and artistic scenes, language and translation challenges or the examination of identity and artistic creation in a new environment.

Guests

© Sana Khalid

Stella Gaitano is a South Sudanese writer and journalist. She has published two collections of short stories, Zouhor Zabila and The Return, both of which have been translated into English. The Return was published in 2015 by Rafiki, the first publishing house in South Sudan. In 2015, she also published a children's book on how to celebrate and respect diversity. Her debut novel Eddo's Souls (2018) won the English PEN Translates Award in 2020. Gaitano's short stories focus on marginalised, refugee or displaced women from war zones, and her texts are always based on research conducted on site in the communities described. She is a member of the Sudanese Writer's Union and has taken part in numerous international literary festivals and conferences.
Her short story collection Endless Days at Point Zero was translated by Günther Orth and published by Edition Orient March 2024. It was named the best book for summer 2024 by Litprom.

© Privat

The Iraqi writer and journalist Mubeen Khishany is co-founder and former editor of the Iraqi poetry magazine Masqa and worked for the socially critical Al-Basheer Show by Deutsche Welle Arabia. He was awarded the Al-Rafidain First Book Award for his first poetry collection Taken away from the hand of comfort and the Qarib Journalism Award from the Agency Francaise de Développement 2023. After death threats, he fled to Turkey. Since April 2023, Mubeen Khishany is a fellow of the Writers-in-Exile programme of the German PEN Centre.

MODERATION

© Lina Burcu

Maha El Hissy is a freelance literary scholar and critic. In 2012 she published her book Getürkte Türken. Karnevaleske Stilmittel im Theater, Kabarett und Film deutsch-türkischer Künstlerinnen und Künstler (transcript). She has taught and researched modern German literature in Cairo, Munich, Berkeley, London and Berlin. As a critic, she writes for the Berliner Zeitung, taz and Deutschlandfunk Kultur. She will soon be publishing the anthology Die ganze Geschichte fasse ich an der Hand. Literatur und Kunst zur Einwanderung ins Nachkriegsdeutschland. On behalf of the Goethe-Institut Northwest Europe, she is curating the literature series Vorzeichen. Wen, was und wie wir lesen.


The LITERATURES IN EXILE series is sponsored by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.