#USI25: When Writing Is Dangerous, Writing is Necessary
Institutional Communication Service
18 November 2021
During the week in which the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer is celebrated, the Institute of Communication and Public Policy of USI, in collaboration with the Centro P.E.N. della Svizzera italiana e retoromancia, organises a conference featuring the new President of PEN international, the Turkish-speaking writer of Kurdish origin and defender of freedom of expression Burhan Sönmez.
Burhan Sönmez grew up in Ankara, speaking both Turkish and Kurdish. A human rights lawyer, he lives between Cambridge and Istanbul and teaches literature at ODTU University in Ankara. Injured in a clash with Turkish police in 1996, he was treated in Britain with the support of the Freedom from Torture Foundation. He started writing during the long months of rehabilitation and today his novels are translated in more than twenty countries. He was named President of PEN international at the last PEN Congress in September 2021.
The conference will take place on Thursday, 18 November at 7 pm in room A11, Palazzo Rosso, at USI. It is part of the Master in Public Management and Policy programme.
*In compliance with the current les, access is possible only upon presentation of a Covid certificate (vaccination, recovery or negative result) and a valid ID.
#USI25 #shapingknowledge
