The near-fatal stabbing of author Salman Rushdie on August 12 shocked readers, writers and defenders of free speech everywhere. Yet around the world, writers, journalists, visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, actors and other creatives are censored, harassed, imprisoned or killed for speaking their minds or exercising their imaginations.
Four dissidents who have faced these dangers first-hand will share their experiences at , a reading and reception on Friday, September 23, at noon in G64 Goldwin Smith Hall. The event is a collaboration between and .
Two of the critics – Russian writer and Nicaraguan cartoonist – have settled in Ithaca with support from , which leads and organizes Cornell’s , and the .
. He spent five days in a coma after falling ill during a speaking tour in 2019. An independent investigation blamed Russian security forces for poisoning him with the nerve agent Novichok. In addition to prohibiting him from teaching at the university level, the government has also barred him from appearing on state radio or TV.
The author of more than 80 books, Bykov is currently a visiting critic at the Einaudi Center’s and a fellow of the .
during a government crackdown in 2018. He was an and visiting critic at the Einaudi Center’s in 2021-22. His work was recognized in October 2021 with the , one of the most prestigious journalism prizes in Latin America. Molina was a visiting scholar at Ithaca College from 2019 until 2021.
Their appearance is part of a three-city tour organized by City of Asylum programs in Ithaca, Pittsburgh and Detroit to mark . Also joining the Solidarity Tour are Algerian novelist Anouar Rahmani and Nigerian essayist Pwaangulongii Dauod. The four will also speak at .
The tour is sponsored by , with grant support from the Mellon Foundation’s . The Migrations initiative, part of , studies the movement of all living things through an interdisciplinary, multispecies lens, with a special focus on racism and dispossession.
on the Ithaca City of Asylum website.
Jonathan Miller is a freelance writer based in Ithaca, New York, and a member of Ithaca City Of Asylum’s board of directors.
