2006 Frankfurt Book Fair

ICORN shared a stand with Stavanger2008, situated in Hall 5.0, at D-966.

Collaborating with the International Centre of the Book Fair, ICORN organised an event on Saturday, October 7^th entitled Exile in Globalised World: Death by Deracination or Writing in Tongues.

The event was chaired by John Ralston Saul (Canada) and Moris Farhi (UK/Turkey) gave the introductory speech.

The discussion panel consisted of Ursula Owen (UK), Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe), Hamid Skif (Algeria) and Easterine Kire (Nagaland).

• What possibilities are there for exiled writers in today's globalised world?
• What impact do they achieve in the cities and countries hosting them?
• Are exiled writers truly deracinated, or is their work still read and acknowledged at home?

These were some of the topics brought before the discussion panel through Moris Farhi's opening speech:

Many years ago, whilst collecting material, in Ethiopia, for a novel, I met an Italian octogenarian in the Eritrean port of Assab. Tio, "Uncle", as everybody addressed him, referred to himself as an isabbiati. The term means "fish caught in the sand." It was coined for those Italians who, having participated in the invasion of Ethiopia, in 1937, chose to stay on after Italy's defeat at the end of World War II.

Over the years, many of these expatriates, increasingly pining for home, became disillusioned and bitter. Not so Tio. [...] For he had been captivated by the beauty of Ethiopia's diverse peoples, particularly of their women...