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Voices of Freedom reading at Toronto Reference Library

November 12, 2025

Date: November 12, 2025

Time: 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm ET

Where: Beeton Hall, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M4W 2G8

Free, open to the public. Doors open at 6:30.

An evening of inspiration and storytelling from the PEN Writers in Exile

Step into an evening of inspiration and storytelling as we present Voices of Freedom, a reading series now in its third year. This special 10th edition of the reading series brings together powerful voices from across the globe—representing Asia, the Middle East, and beyond.

This edition will feature Atefeh Khademolreza (Iran), Onder Deligoz (Turkey), and more.

For this special 10th edition of the reading series, we’ve moved to a new location: the Toronto Reference Library. The library is a 2-minute walk north of Bloor-Yonge Subway Station, and is wheelchair accessible. Find us on the first floor, in a room called Beeton Hall.

Join us in celebrating the strength and resilience of these courageous voices, and hear their words shed light on the complexities of life in exile.

Featuring

Atefeh Khademolreza is an Iranian-Canadian award-winning writer, director, and animator with over 15 years of international experience in writing and filmmaking. Mentored by the late Abbas Kiarostami, her work has screened at prestigious festivals worldwide, including her latest animated short, METEOR, which premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Atefeh was the writer-in-residence at TIFF’s Micki Moore Residency (2021–2022) and was selected for the 2023 Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices Pitch Program. She is an alumna of Berlinale Talent Campus (2006), Asian Film Academy (2008), and Reelworld E20 (2019). Her storytelling focuses on themes of women, immigration, and identity, often exploring cultural disorientation and the search for belonging. Atefeh is a founding member of the Association of Iranian Film and Theatre Artists Abroad (AIFTAA) and a member of the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) and the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA).

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Onder Deligoz is a Toronto-based author with an MA in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Gloucestershire. He has held editorial roles at several national media outlets in Turkey, including reporter, editor, and editor-in-chief. He is the author of two novels, Love After You Have Gone and Forbidden Voice. His work has been recognized with the 2018 PEN Canada–Humber College WIE Scholarship and the 2019 Diaspora Dialogues Long-Term Mentorship. In addition to his literary work, Deligoz specializes in AI development and prompt engineering. He is currently working on a poetry collection titled A Mirror Reckoning.

Moderator + Host

Luis Horacio Najera is an acclaimed journalist, crime analyst, and former Grupo Reforma reporter from Mexico. His life was repeatedly threatened for his reports on corruption and drug cartels. Luis won the 2010 CJFE International Press Freedom Award, is a former fellow at the Citizen Lab/Canada Centre for Global Security Studies, and is the co-author of The Wolfpack.