PEN Canada’s Writers in Exile Program provides solidarity and support for writers living in exile in Canada. Our community includes journalists, poets, editors, translators, essayists and playwrights who have been forced from their homelands due to their written work.
Through our program and community, members can develop their professional skills through residencies, workshops, public performances, and a broad range of formal and informal support.
How we help
- Newcomers can receive assistance with refugee claims and be accompanied to refugee hearings by Canadian writers.
- Our office can provide written confirmation of a claimant’s professional credentials.
- Members can be connected to media who can share their stories and raise public awareness of the reasons for their exile.
- Members can meet with mentors and Canadian media workers who offer advice and guidance.
A Community
Reaching across Canada, PEN has created a community for those displaced from their homelands, fleeing extraordinary hardship, including threats of violence, imprisonment, torture and death.
Members include authors, journalists, poets, editors, translators, essayists and playwrights. Each has published work either back home or here in Canada.
Program activities include workshops and public events, like the popular reading series, Voices of Freedom, which is held three times a year in Toronto. The community gathers in the fall and spring for a social lunch at Romero House (1558 Bloor St. West) to share knowledge and experiences. Members can also apply for residencies and scholarships (see below), join occasional literary workshops and participate in public readings at literary festivals across Canada.
New members are welcome, apply below.
Publications
The Uncaged Voice
Edited by Keith Ross Leckie
Published October 21, 2023
Through first-person essays and short stories, contributors to The Uncaged Voice share heart-rending tales of their flight from oppressive regimes which attempted to subjugate, if not annihilate, all forms of dissent.
From war correspondents reporting in dangerous “no-go zones,” to female journalists escaping conservative and patriarchal environments, to independent newspaper editors risking imprisonment, or worse, to criticize authoritarian states — these fifteen writers-in-exile continue to write, sharing both the suppressed truths of their past and the hopes they have for their future in Canada.
With introductions by editor Keith Ross Leckie and Mary Jo Leddy, The Uncaged Voice tells often-silenced stories, not only of censorship and persecution but also of the strength and resilience of those unwavering in their fight for freedom of expression.
Contributors include: Aaron Berhane, Gezahegn Mekonnen Demissie, Alexander Duarte, Ava Homa, Abdulrahman Matar, Ilamaran Nagarasa, Luis Horacio Nájera, Kiran Nazish, Pedro A. Restrepo, Maria Saba, Kaziwa Salih, Mahdi Saremifar, Bilal Sarwary, Savithri, and Arzu Yildiz.
Find it at a bookstore near you.
Residencies, Scholarships and Fellowships
PEN maintains several placements in residency programs at universities and other institutions. Over the years, PEN has filled more than 35 writer-in-exile placements.
Through partnerships with institutions, PEN currently offers three scholarships and residencies. Only members can apply for these opportunities:
Humber College Writers-in-Exile Scholarship
Humber School for Writers
Meant for a writer who is working on a book-length project, this scholarship covers the full cost of Humber’s Creative Writing – Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry graduate certificate, a 28-week online mentorship program.
PEN Writer-in-Residence at George Brown College
George Brown College, Department of English and Communications, Centre for Preparatory and Liberal Studies
For over fifteen years, George Brown has partnered with PEN Canada to invite exiled writers into the College to discuss freedom of expression, human rights, and the importance of democracy.
The Writer-in-Residence devotes approximately half of their time to students and staff, as a guest speaker in classes and at other College events and initiatives. The remaining time will be designated for the writer to advance their own work.
This is a paid position. Applications are currently closed.
The Aaron Berhane Educational Pilot Project
George Brown College
George Brown College sponsors enrollment in English as a Second Language (ESL) courses for some members of PEN Canada’s Writers-in-Exile group.
Refugee writers will receive extensive ESL training at levels beyond existing government-funded programs. The goal of the Aaron Berhane Educational Pilot Project is to reduce the language barrier, opening the way to more professional work in Canada. Participants will be able to progress from their current fluency through to the eighth level of the certificate ESL program.
This initiative honors the remarkable life of Aaron Berhane, award-winning journalist, tireless advocate for freedom of expression, and member of George Brown College faculty. Aaron passed away in 2021.
Applications are received on a rolling basis. To inquire, please email queries[at]pencanada[dot]ca.
Leadership
Gezahegn Mekonnen Demissie
leader, Writers in Exile community; board member, PEN Canada
Demissie is an Ethiopian journalist and filmmaker, one of the founding members of PEN Ethiopia, and Executive Director of Bridge Entertainment. He currently lives in Toronto, Canada, where he publishes the community journal, and radio show/podcast, New Perspective. He is a current board member and the leader of PEN Canada’s Writers in Exile community.
In his role as leader of the Writers in Exile, he is joined by senior volunteers Margo Kelly, Joan Leishman, Keith Leckie, Anneli Andre-Barrett, and Hannah Fisher.
Get involved: volunteer
The community is looking for volunteers for informal coffee chats with new members who would like to practice their English. If interested, please contact queries[at]pencanada[dot]ca.
Join the Writers in Exile
If you are a writer living in exile in Canada, you can join our network. Simply e-mail our Office Manager, Theresa Johnson, at tjohnson[at]pencanada[dot]ca, and we will send you an application form.