Migration, Literature and Intercultural Dialogue

On November 14th 2013, UNU-GCM was glad to welcome thirteen writers to participate in a discussion organized jointly by UNU-GCM, PEN Catalunya, the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia and the Institut Ramon Llull. The event was chaired by Professor Parvati Nair, Founding Director of UNU-GCM and introduced by Dr Carles Torner of PEN Catalunya. The discussion was wide-ranging and varied, but overall, three main themes emerged. The writers all discussed their particular relationships with the language that they use for their writing. This included some who, upon adopting Catalan as the language for their fiction, had found a new voice that then went on to enrich their writing in their native languages. The importance of place was also discussed. This included some who noted the importance of the place where the writer is, and others who discussed the possibility of setting work in a far away place in order to improve the understanding of home. Finally, the notion of Exile was an important one. The writers discussed the importance of writing, both to deal with exile, and as itself a form of exile. Overall the discussion was animated and interesting and all agreed that they had learnt from the event.