“Empty City” readings dedicated to the voices of persecuted and imprisoned authors will be held in Riga / Article

Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, writers, poets and journalists are persecuted, imprisoned or killed for their artistic or political views. Therefore, the readings of “Empty Chair” organized by “Latvijas PEN” association provide an opportunity to speak to those who cannot.

“That empty chair is an empty chair to confirm that the writer – either killed or imprisoned, it is impossible for him to be present in this reading Then we will leave that empty seat, that place where he is present, only through his texts,” explained the writer Inga Gaile.

“Empty City” readings have been held in Latvia before. This time, authors from Latvia will take part in them – Inga Gaile, Ivars Šteinbergs, Linda Mence, Aļesja Loseva, Elīna Kokareviča and Katrīna Rudzīte. In their voices, we will hear the stories of authors killed in Ukraine, translations of the works of Belarusian political prisoner Katjarina Andreyeva, Egyptian author Alaa Abdel Fattah, murdered Palestinian writer Refat Alarir, Cuban political prisoner María Cristina Garrido Rodríguez, Fama Doan Chan, author from Vietnam, as well as political prisoner from Iran Nargesa Muhammadi, whom Inga Gaile says: “If the Nobel Peace Prize, as if the whole world is convinced that it is an unjust prison, this very man has done good for the development of society, but the Iranian leadership is still keeping him in prison like many other political prisoners.

Thus readings of “The Empty Chair” shed light on different situations of how writers who speak out about injustice against women, environmental activism, and other topics are harassed today. . The authorities do this with the aim of intimidating other authors so that they are afraid and will not express their opinion.

“It’s a direct way of power, how you stay in power at any price (..),” emphasizes Inga Gaile.

“That is why we also want to point out that there are such people in other places who, despite incredible difficulties and perhaps much greater threats to their freedom of speech, are still able to speak. “

You can get to know the stories of the authors of political prisoners on the evening of Friday, November 15, at the Jānis Akuraters Museum in Riga.

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