Bard College’s Center for Ethics and Writing Program and ARC established a Fellowship program in December 2023, with the first cohort comprising five international artists who have been persecuted for their work. The fellows encompass a range of backgrounds and artistic disciplines.
This fellowship is a non-residency program providing direct support for one year to writers and artists whose free expression is threatened due to their socially engaged art. The Center hopes to further empower the fellows by inviting them to speak on their creative practice in virtual courses, networking extensively on their behalf, and promoting their work on the Center’s website and online journal.
“The Center for Ethics and Writing’s partnership with Pen America’s ARC is the next step in the Center’s efforts to highlight the critical and urgent role artists and writers play in shaping our political and cultural discourse. Our first cohort of fellows embody the Center’s commitment to supporting creative practices that despite the risks, engage boldly with some of the most pressing and divisive social issues facing us,” said John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of the Humanities Dinaw Mengestu, director of Bard College’s Written Arts program and the Center for Ethics and Writing.
“ARC is honored to collaborate with Bard College to identify a talented pool of writers and artists who demonstrate an unwavering commitment to their freedom of expression. We are thrilled to amplify these writers and artists who will lend their expertise and experience to the Center for Ethics and Writing,” said ARC Director Julie Trébault. “By centering creatives who have fled their own country for the sake of their free expression, Bard recognizes the vital role creatives play in advancing the international exchange of thoughts and ideas and the necessity to create such an empowering program.”
The Fellowship for the Center of Ethics and Writing Program is made possible by generous support from the Booth Ferris Foundation.
2023 - 2024 Cohort
The first cohort includes poet and artist Amaury Pacheco del Monte (not pictured here, who is also a Cuba Fellow in the 2023-2024 Cohort).
Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and several films in genres, documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. Aslı Erdoğan is a prize-winning Turkish writer, author, human rights activist, and columnist for Özgür Gündem and formerly for Radikal, ex political prisoner, particle physicist. Poet, lyricist, and women’s rights activist Mahtab Yaghma draws inspiration from classical styles, merging classical Persian themes with modern Iranians’ concerns. Dr. Stella Nyanzi is a medical anthropologist, poet, feminist scholar, mother, and advocate for women’s health and LGBTQIA+ rights in Uganda.
