A part of the ‘Frankfurt Calling’ series of programs on cultural and political issues in publishing ‘Storytelling Is a Human Right’ reflected on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Talita Facchini
By Talita Facchini | @talitafacchinii
Glukhovsky: ‘How Dictators Manipulate Us’
An important panel on Friday (October 18), Storytelling Is a Human Right: Authors Read, Reflect, and Relate Their Work to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was organized by the United Nations in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse, brought together authors from a number of countries to share their stories and connect their work with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The panel featured:
- Francesca Melandri, Italy
- Dmitry Glukhovsky, Russia
- Aziz Isa Elkun, East Turkestan/Uyghuristan
- Corinna Kulenkamp, Germany
- Mary Glenn, chief, United Nations Publications
In powerful speeches about how literature and writing can be seen as acts of resistance, the panelists offered inspiration to the audience at the Frankfurt Pavilion, the venue for the week’s “Frankfurt Calling” series of culturally and politically energized events on diverse topics.
Among the speakers, the poet and academic Aziz Isa Elkun, a researcher at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), was born in Shayar County in Uyghuristan (East Turkestan).
“I used my pen to express and resist those atrocities,” Elkun said, in reference to China’s “re-education camps” and repression of Uyghurs. “That’s how the aim of establishing the United Nations and the value of fighting for the full implementation of basic human rights for everyone in our world” takes on its importance.
Elkun read a poem from his book Uyghur Poems, which reflects on the beauty and history of his people. “These poems are dedicated to my mother and to all innocent Uyghurs who have been detained or arrested in China’s 20th-century confrontation camps since 2017,” he said.
Kulenkamp: ‘Storytelling Becomes a Human Obligation’
Sudanese author Stella Gaitano said that, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person,” and that “storytelling is a tool for human rights. For us as writers, to write these stories or to write a novel, we’re going deep into research, investigating, and interviewing victims so we can highlight their faces in our writing.
“And that is, for me, very important, because in Sudan and South Sudan, we’ve experienced several atrocities and genocides. But those who committed these crimes often go unpunished.”
Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, who has spoken with Publishing Perspectives onstage in earlier iterations of Frankfurt, read an article about Russia’s transformation and discussed how nations are vulnerable to threats to liberty from fascism and extreme ideologies.
“It’s crucial to understand,” he said, “how Russians became vulnerable to the national inferiority complex, past imperialist revanchist sentiments, and how this can be addressed—how dictators manipulate us and how this can be prevented.”
German author Corinna Kulenkamp concluded the discussion, saying, “Yes, storytelling is a human right, but I’d like to take it one step further. In these times, storytelling becomes a human obligation for writers and for publishers.”
Speakers in the October 18 ‘Storytelling Is a Human Right’ program at Frankfurter Buchmesse. Image: Publishing Perspectives, Talita Facchini
Our 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair Magazine, currently being read at Frankfurter Buchmesse by trade visitors, now is available in a digital edition here.
Download your copy here.
You’ll also read our focused coverage of issues and events in the Guest of Honor Italy program; book market trends in Brazil, France, the Philippines, the Czech Republic, and Poland; perspectives on the international rights trade from Matthes & Seitz Berlin’s Meran Mentzel; commentary from independent publishers from Greece, Colombia, and Kenya.
PEN International president emerita Jennifer Clement speaks to Publishing Perspectives on censorship ahead of the IPA’s International Publishers Congress (December 3-5); there’s an exit interview with the outgoing IPA president Karine Pansa of Brazil; a wide-ranging interview with Scholastic chief Peter Warwick; perspectives on audio in Italy from Mondadori’s Miriam Spinnato; and more.
More on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here, and more on Guest of Honor Italy 2024 is here, and more on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner.
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