Mexico City

Abstract

outpost A Syrian poet loses his job for refusing to cooperate with his government. Where can he find refuge? Since September 1999, writers like Mohamad Abdul Moula Alaaedin have found refuge in Mexico City, where the Citlaltépetl Refuge House for persecuted writers serves as a sanctuary for writers threatened and harassed by their home countries because of their writing. Alaaedin came to live in the house in February 2011, following other writers from countries such as Iraq, Senegal , Serbia, Algeria, and Chad. Not a quiet place to retreat and wait out conflict abroad, Citlaltépetl is a site of writing workshops, seminars, book launches, and poetry readings. For instance, on Thursdays the community is invited in to discuss new literature. Former mayor Cuahtemoc Cardenas developed this program to facilitate a “City of Refuge” for intellectuals. In 1998 the City of Mexico bought the house for this new social program and fairly soon after that welcomed its first guest. Citlaltépetl has room for one or two families at a time and gives its inhabitants a stipend and health insurance. The house produces a literary journal, Escape Lines. The International Parliament of Writers, a group headed by Salman Rushdie, was also instrumental in the foundation of the refuge house, along with Mexican writer Carmen Boullosa and Colombian author Álvaro Mutis. Their poetry was read at the opening event. – Laura Hernandez Mexico City background photo Inside Mexico City’s Museum of Modern Art, which is located not far from the Citlaltépetl Refuge House. above left The Citlaltépetl Refuge House’s modern exterior. 80 WORLD LITERATURE TODAY background photo : alejandro mej í a greene . inset photo : casa refugio citlaltépetl ...