Equanimity: Writing and Exile

Presented by Victory Gardens
Moderated by John Rich, Executive Director of the Guild Literary Complex

Being forced to leave one’s homeland can leave one with a sense of loss, trauma, and confusion. But for many writers, exile and political writing can also be a source of creativity and a way to reconnect with a life that seems increasingly distant. Join John Rich as he opens a dialogue with writers exploring first-hand narratives of exile and political activism in their creative works.

About the Panelists

Osama Alomar is an award-winning Syrian poet and essayist. “He belongs at once to several different important literary traditions. Most immediately evident are two: that of the writer driven into exile from his own country and culture; and that of the writer of very short stories.” –Lydia Davis, The New Yorker (2013)

Matilde de la Sierra, a Guatemalan physician who practiced in a village that was home to Guatemala’s indigenous Mayan population. She was the only medical doctor in the region and – together with the Catholic church – she advocated to build a hospital on land that was used for military training. This put her in conflict with the Guatemalan military. Matilde was abducted and tortured and, more than a decade later, still suffers severe effects on her health, memory, and flashbacks.

Coya Paz is a poet, director, and lip gloss connoisseur who was raised in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil before moving permanently to the United States in 1987. Coya is the Artistic Director of Free Street Theatre, and an Assistant Professor in the Theatre School at DePaul University.