TORONTO, ON, September 13, 2018 – Onder Deligoz is the recipient of the 2018 PEN Canada-Humber College Writers-in-Exile Scholarship. Deligoz—a Turkish-born journalist whose beats have included education, youth, and politics—will receive peer feedback on his second novel from School for Writers mentor Boris Fishman, the critically acclaimed US-based author of A Replacement Life. Deligoz is the author of two previously published works: a book on Kurdish rights in Turkey and the novel Love After You Have Gone.
“We’re very pleased to continue our partnership with PEN Canada and to provide an opportunity for an exiled writer to develop their craft and, hopefully, add their story to our literary landscape,” said School for Writers director David Bezmozgis, describing the writing program’s relationship with PEN. “The School for Writers supports PEN Canada’s mission to champion freedom of expression and to value the indispensable role writers play in our civic and cultural life.”
“Helping silenced writers find their voices again has never been more important to PEN Canada,” said Brendan de Caires, executive director of PEN Canada. “We celebrate literature, defend freedom of expression and help exiled writers establish new lives in this country. Our partnership with Humber College is particularly gratifying because it allows us to work towards each of these goals at the same time.”
Established in 2017, the PEN Canada-Humber College Writers-in-Exile Scholarship provides a full scholarship to attend the Humber School for Writers’ graduate certificate program in creative writing. Over the course of 30 weeks, the selected writer will work one-on-one with one of Humber’s faculty mentors on a book-length English-language manuscript of fiction or non-fiction. The first scholarship recipient was Ava Homa.
