Fellowship
2023 Center for Ethics and Writing Program Fellows
New York
On Wednesday, December 13, Bard College and PEN America's Artists at Risk Connection launched the Fellowship for the Center for Ethics and Writing Program. The inaugural cohort includes five internationally renowned artists, all of whom have been persecuted due to their artistic expression. Supported by The Center for Ethics and Writing, an initiative of Bard College’s Written Arts Program that reimagines the study of literature and writing as an academic and social practice, the artists selected represent a diversity of backgrounds and artistic disciplines.
The 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. By harnessing the Center’s extensive networks, website, and online journal, the fellowship hopes to further empower Fellows' creative expression, including by inviting Fellows to speak on their creative practice in virtual courses.
Additionally, at the end of each semester, faculty and students in courses supported by the Center have the opportunity to publish the work produced in their courses in the Center’s online journal. In partnering with ARC, faculty, and students are invited to read, work, translate, and, when possible, collaborate directly with the Center’s international fellows.
ARC’s recent report, Art is Power: Twenty Artists on How They Fight for Justice and Inspire Change helps to spotlight the stories of 20 other artists worldwide who have used their creative talents to uplift, sustain, and mobilize social and political movements globally. Supported by the report’s findings, ARC has embarked on this collaboration with The Center and urges states and multilateral institutions to develop a UN Action Plan for the Protection of Artists, recognizing the role socially engaged artists play in creating a more open society and ensuring their right to access protective mechanisms under international human rights frameworks.
Fellows
Amaury Pacheco del Monte
Amaury Pacheco del Monte is an Afro-Cuban interdisciplinary artist and poet. In 1997, he co- founded the Cuban art collective OMNI Zona Franca, a group that for two decades challenged their government’s restriction and surveillance by bringing together artists of various disciplines to host public performances and festivals. Amaury co-founded the San Isidro Movement in 2018 in response to Decree 349, a Cuban law passed that required artists to attain advance approval for artistic exhibitions and performances. After facing persecution for his work, Amaury left Cuba through humanitarian parole, and now lives in Miami with his family.
Asli Erdogan
Born in Istanbul, in 1967, Aslı Erdoğan is a writer, journalist, human rights activist, and particle physicist. She has written eight books—novels, novellas, collections of short stories and poetic prose, and selections from her political essays—that have been translated into more than twenty languages, and works as a columnist for various international publications. In 2016, she was arrested for her collaboration with the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem. She now lives in exile in Germany, where she continues her work as a writer and advocate for human rights.
Leena Manimekalai
Leena Manimekalai is a Tamil poet and celebrated filmmaker in India. She has made over fifteen films that covered subjects such as caste, gender, globalization, art therapy, student politics, Tamil right to self-determination, eco feminism, Indigenous and LGBTQIA+ rights. Her poetry has been translated into Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada, English and Spanish. In 2022, Leena faced charges from Indian authorities after a poster for her recent film, Kaali, depicted the Hindu goddess Kaali smoking a cigarette and holding an LGBTQIA+ flag. She now lives and works in Canada.
Mahtab Yaghma
Mahtab Yaghma is a lyricist, poet and women’s rights activist from Iran. She has been civically active in her hometown Neyshabur, both physically and now virtually from Turkey. She has participated in various protest movements in the past decade, including the 2019-2020 protests as part of the wider Iranian Democracy Movement, and the 2022-2023 protests in response to the murder of Mahsa Amini. Her poetry has been interpreted by Iranian vocalists and she has two published poetry collections. Mahtab faces three charges in Iran due to her art and activism, and currently lives in exile in Turkey.
Stella Nyanzi
Dr. Stella Nyanzi is a medical anthropologist, poet, feminist scholar, and advocate for women’s health and LGBTQIA+ rights in Uganda. She has published numerous articles and works of writing and was a research fellow at Makerere University. Dr. Nyanzi’s writing and research explores the intersections between modern homophobia and colonization, and sheds light on issues of healthcare and women’s rights in Uganda. She has been an outspoken critic of President Yoweri Museveni, and has been arrested twice after posting poems censuring him. She now lives with her family in exile in Germany.