Bratislava has become temporary home to persecuted Iranian writer. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
Bratislava has joined the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), an independent network of cities and regions that offer refuge to persecuted and threatened artists.
The first person to be provided temporary refuge is Iranian writer Farhad Babaei.
In his homeland, he faced censorship, was interrogated several times, and arrested. He was also put on a Culture Ministry blacklist and some of his books were banned.
"Despite many threats, I have refused any censorship of my books. I want to continue my work freely, which is why I asked ICORN for a temporary refuge in 2019," said Babaei.
The writer's works have been published in foreign cultural magazines, on literary websites and via an Iranian underground publishing house. Anglo-Persian publishers in London and Germany recently published some of his novels.
Babaei's temporary refuge status in Slovakia does not mean he has been given asylum, only that he has been granted residency for one or two years. The goal is to cover basic necessities, including housing.
The Milan Šimečka Foundation and literarnyklub.sk civic association, which has coordinated the residency, are behind the capital's involvement in ICORN.
