Ljubljana City of Refuge (ICORN)

Contact

Ljubljana v Mreži mest zatočišč preganjanih pisateljev ICORN

Municipality of Ljubljana Department for Culture, Ambrožev trg 7, SI-1000 Ljubljana

Managed byMunicipality of Ljubljana

 Ljubljana City Library

 Slovene PEN Centre

In April 2011 Ljubljana became a member of the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN). Since 2006, more than 50 cities around the globe have joined the global network, and no less than 130 writers and artists have found shelter in an ICORN member city thus contributing to the freedom of expression in a practical way. Writers who were persecuted in their homeland as a direct consequence of their creative activities, are offered a 2 year residency to continue with their work, involved in a network of local and international cultural programmes.

In Slovenia the residency is managed by the Department for Culture of the City of Ljubljana and the Ljubljana City Library, in cooperation with the Slovene PEN Centre. So far Ljubljana has hosted Ali Amar and Zineb El Rhazoui (both from Morocco), and Girma T. Fantaye (Ethiopia). In May 2014 the Municipality of Ljubljana hosted the ICORN Network General Assembly.

Background

In 1993 the Cities of Asylum were founded by the International Parliament of Writers (IPW) that was established by Salman Rushdie, Vaclav Havel, Margaret Drabble and Jacques Derrida among others, in response to the assassination of writers in Algeria. Though the Parliament was later on dissolved, a network of over 30 cities across the world remained active, including Stavanger where the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN) is based.

ICORN by ICORNvideo on YouTube

Residents in Slovenia

Ali Amar, a Moroccan writer and journalist, who was censored and persectued because of his inquiries into the Moroccan monarchic system, was a guest writer in Ljubljana from 2011 to 2013. During this period, the city hosted also Zineb El Rhazoui, a journalist, writer and human rights advocate, who strives for a real democracy in Morocco. In 2012 the ICORN joined forces with the Shahrazad - stories for life European project, adn invited the writers Manal al-Sheikh (Irak) and Mansur Rajih (Yemen) to join the two residents on the stage of the World Literatures - Fabula Festival in Ljubljana. Ethiopian poet, writer and journalist Girma Fantaye, who resides in Ljubljana up to 2015, was invited to presented his versatile experience at the Days of Poetry and Wine Festival in Ptuj.

See also

• Municipality of Ljubljana
• Ljubljana City Library
• Slovene PEN Centre

External links

• ICORN website
• Information on Ljubljana on ICORN web page
• ICORN Assembly in Ljubljana 2014 programme
• ICORN information on Slovene PEN Centre website