Farewell, Asmara

Aaron Berhane was a beloved leader of our centre’s Writers in Exile community and a valued member of PEN Canada’s Board of Directors before his untimely death, due to Covid-19, in May 2021. He fled Eritrea in 2002, following a draconian crackdown on the independent press. The following extract from his posthumously published memoir The Burden of Exile: A Banned Journalist’s Flight from Dictatorship, recounts his early days hiding from government agents in Asmara. 

SuperFan Showcase, Calgary: André Alexis & Yann Martel – this Wednesday October 5th

PEN Canada is thrilled to be partnering with Wordfest on the SuperFan Showcase series, in which notable Canadians engage in wide-ranging, generous conversation about writing and ideas with their favourite authors. When we approached Yann Martel, he loved the idea of an in-person show, but thought he would be the host, given how much he enjoys André Alexis’s work. Actually, it was André who asked for Yann – which demonstrates that this 75-minute event is going to be well-grounded in mutual admiration (although they will likely both recoil at the notion of super-fandom). Intelligent. Self-effacing. Unpredictable. Not to be missed.

Q&A with 2022 New Voices Award Winner Fareh Malik

Fareh Malik is a spoken word poet from Hamilton, Ontario and the winner of the 2022 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award. His new book Streams that Lead Somewhere is available from Mawenzi Press. In its citation the New Voices Award jury praised Malik’s “tenderness and throat-grabbing use of imagery” and his “wide range of voices and tones to convey a nuanced spectrum of emotions and a laser sharp critique of Canada’s blatant and covert systemic racism.”