This reading should be “not a solidarity reading,” Deniz Yücel makes that clear right from the start in the Frankfurt Pavilion. They want to “let the literature speak.” PEN Berlin, which hastily organized the event at the Frankfurt Book Fair, wanted to give Adania Shibli’s novel a stage. “No solidarity reading” because the term “solidarity” is used carefully, says Yücel: “Solidarity (…) is required when serious injustice is done to someone, so serious and fundamental that others who otherwise don’t have much to do with one another connects, can come together at this point and provide solidarity (…).” A postponed award ceremony is not such a serious violation of human rights.
Frankfurt Book Fair: PEN Berlin Reading by Adania Shibli – Culture
