Kapka Kassabova / Mustafa Kör / Naema Tahir

Part of the LSE Space for Though Literary Weekend
5pm | Saturday 28 February 2009
Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building

Panellists
Kapka Kassabova, is the author of two novels, four poetry collections and a couple of travel guides. Her memoir of childhood in Bulgaria, A Street Without a Name, is published in paperback by Portobello Books in February 2009. She was born in Bulgaria in 1973 and learned to speak English at the age of 16 when her parents emigrated to New Zealand.
Mustafa Kör, author of  De Lammeren (The Lambs) in 2007 and received the El Hizjra Prize of Literature for Uitverkorene (The Chosen). He was born in Turkey and emigrated to Belgium when he was three years old.
Naema Tahir, author of three books: A Muslim Woman Unveils (2005), best-selling Prized Possession (2006), Lonelinesses (2008), Little Green Riding Hood and the Converted Wolf (2008).  She was born in Pakistan, and lives in Netherlands.

Chair
Professor Luc Bovens

This roundtable on migrant literature will feature migrant authors who are living and writing in various Western European countries. The migrant intellectual, writes Edward Said, has ‘double perspective’. He or she is in a constant dialogue with his or her old and new home. Their writings often convey both a sense of loss and yearning but also display a richness wrought by the integration of multiple cultural identities, unique experiences and diverse modes of expression.

These authors will explore what is it like to be migrant writers in these respective societies-what are the points of divergence, what are the commonalities? The authors will be invited to start off the evening by reading short excerpts from their work that typify their experiences as migrant authors. We will then explore some of the following questions in a roundtable discussion. What modes of expression have migrant writers found to intermediate between where they came from and what they are confronted with in European cultures? What impact does the work of migrant writers have on the politics of multiculturalism in their respective societies? Are the political conditions in their respective countries supportive of artistic work by migrant authors? What explains the interest of the public in migrant literature in contemporary society? How is the work of migrant writers received in their countries of origin?

The event is co-organised by Professor Luc Bovens (LSE) and Stefanie van Gemert (UCL) and co-sponsored by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Van Gennep Publishers, Portobello Books, the Migration Studies Unit, POLIS Journalism and Society, and the Forum for European Philosophy.