MEDIA ADVISORY
(Note to journalists: Authors will be available for one-on-one interviews including before the series’ events; please reach out to schedule. Coverage is welcome at the public events and at the school. More details about the public event Friday here and the Saturday event here
(MINNEAPOLIS)— PEN America, the writers and free expression group, will lead an international and immigrant writers delegation to the city on Friday and Saturday Feb. 27-28, presenting public conversations on the role of writers in response to the massive deployment of ICE immigration agents, and the protests and outrage over the raids and violence that followed. Two acclaimed authors, PEN America President Dinaw Mengestu and PEN International President Burhan Sönmez, will discuss the relevant themes they have explored in their novels— displacement, migration, and political upheaval— and give a writers workshop.
Mengestu, whose family immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia when he was a child, and Sönmez, a Kurdish writer from Türkiye, will be joined by other speakers—all with roots in U.S. immigrant communities— at two public evening events Friday and Saturday. Speakers will include Emmy-winning television host and bestselling author Padma Lakshmi, an immigrant from India and immigrant rights advocate; the Hmong-American author Kao Kalia Yang, who came to the United States as a child, lives in St. Paul and has written about the current crisis in Minneapolis and its impact on her family, and Victoria Blanco, a Minneapolis author whose first book, Out of the Sierra: A Story of Rarámuri Resistance, chronicles the displacement of a Mexican family due to poverty, drought and cartel violence. PEN America co-CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf will moderate the discussions.
In addition, on Friday during the day, Mengestu and Yang will speak to students at Txuj Ci Elementary School in St. Paul (1089 Cypress St.). Yang will read from her book for children The Blue House I Loved and Mengestu and Sönmez will conduct a writing workshop afterwards with students. The school offers Hmong studies and language programs.
Mengestu and Sönmez will give a writers workshop on Saturday 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the East Side Freedom Library (1105 Greenbrier St, St. Paul), guiding participants through exercises and conversations to transform fear, disruption, grief into language that clarifies and endures. Limited spots are available. Email to register: [email protected]
PEN America organized the delegation to engage writers, readers, and the Minnesota literary community in discussion about the crisis sparked by the ICE raids; the response of writers and artists will be centered, many of whom have been on the frontlines of protest and through their writings. The delegation also serves as a bridge to solidarity from writers worldwide who, like people everywhere, have expressed deep admiration and respect for the response of the Minneapolis community.
Conversations will explore how literature has served as witness and refuge as well as igniting resistance— a recognition that writers and the creative community are essential to the fight against authoritarian tactics.
Other speakers will include Hawra Alnabi, who lives in Minnesota, fled Iraq with her family when she was a child, and was granted refugee status in the United States, and Dr Jonas Attilus, a psychiatrist who practices in rural Minnesota, and an immigrant from Haiti. Both are writing personal histories and will read from their works at the Friday evening event.
Public Conversations on Fri and Sat Evenings Feb. 27 and 28 Highlight the Series (open coverage welcome)
On Fri., Feb. 27 at 6pm at East Side Freedom Library (1105 Greenbrier St. St. Paul) Mengestu, Sönmez, and Yang will discuss the role of writers and the power of solidarity in moments when human rights and democratic values are under strain. Drawing on their experiences as writers shaped by displacement, censorship, migration, and political upheaval, the speakers will explore the role of literature as witness, refuge, and resistance. The evening will feature readings from refugee and immigrant writers based in Minnesota, centering voices whose work emerges directly from their experiences of exile and resilience.
The following night, a discussion titled “Bread, Borders and Belonging” will be presented jointly with Milkweed Editions at 6 p.m. at Open Book (1011 Washington Ave. South). Sönmez, Mengestu, and Padma Lakshmi will ground the conversation in the specific realities that writers in Minnesota face and explore international solidarity and the responsibility of the creative community in times of democratic strain. Their discussion will highlight the power of storytelling, food, and shared cultural space to build resilience, deepen community ties, and affirm that attacks on creative expression anywhere are a concern for artists everywhere.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 201-247-5057