In times of political upheaval, displacement and erasure, writing becomes a powerful tool of resistance. Join Uyghur poet and memoirist Tahir Hamut Izgil (Waiting to Be Arrested at Night) and Iraqi American poet Dunya Mikhail (Tablets: Secrets of the Clay) as they discuss how their writing challenges dominant political narratives and preserves stories of displacement, exile and perseverance.

In his memoir Waiting to Be Arrested at Night, Tahir Hamut Izgil documents the Chinese government’s persecution of the Uyghur people and his time in a labor-camp. In Dunya Mikhail’s poetry collection Tablets: Secrets of Clay, she explores the memories and legacies of her families’ exile from Iraq while looking back at Iraqi history. Moderated by novelist Mojgan Ghazirad (The House on Sun Street), this panel will delve into the urgency of documenting personal and collective experiences and how the act of writing both engenders change and urges us towards a future of complex understanding.