“Worldwide Reading Commemorating the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide on 24 April 2015”

“The International Literature Festival Berlin (ilb) and the Lepsiushaus Potsdam are calling for a worldwide reading on 24 April 2015 -the day that marks 100 years since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.
Several hundred Armenian intellectuals – poets, musicians, parliamentary representatives and members of the clergy – were arrested in Constantinople (today Istanbul) on 24 April 1915, and deported to the Turkish interior where most of them were murdered. It was the start of a crime against humanity. The extermination of the Armenians during World War One was the first systematically planned and executed genocide of modern times. More than a million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire died during this genocidal campaign.
The events took place before the eyes of the whole world and were clearly documented by German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, American, Scandinavian, Armenian and Ottoman sources as well as by a great number of historical research projects. As early as August 1915, The New York Times reported on a methodically planned program of ethnic cleansing and extermination which was unprecedented in history up to that time. The German Reich’s government, which was allied to the Ottoman Empire, reached the same conclusions without undertaking anything against what was happening.
The Turkish political world denies the Armenian Genocide up to the present day, although the facts have been known for more than a hundred years. The Indian writer Arundhati Roy has spoken publicly about this scandal on many occasions, including at the 2009 International Literature Festival Berlin. A great number of Armenian voices were silenced in 1915 and in the years thereafter. Since then, others have become loud and have spoken out against forgetting, among them an increasing number of voices from the democratic Turkish civil society. In remembrance of the victims and in association with the demand for international recognition of the genocide, we are calling for a worldwide reading on 24 April 2015, with literary texts from Armenian authors, among them Siamanto, Komitas, Yeghishe Charents, William Saroyan, Hovhannes Shiraz, Paruyr Sevak, Hakop Mntsuri, Silva Kaputikian and Hrant Dink.”
Since the first signatories Rolf Hosfeld, Konrad Kuhn, Ulrich Schreiber and Hasmik Papian endorsed the call, 250 others from 65 countries have added their names. Among the signatories are Nobel prize winners Elfried Jelinek, Mario Vargas Llosa, John M. Coetzee, Herta Müller, Orhan Pamuk, as well as Elif Shafak, Alberto Manguel, Breyton Breytenbach and John Ashbury.
As the organizers stated at the press conference, their hope is that readings will take place in many, many different cities throughout the world on April 21, 2015. Individuals and organizations interested in joining the initiative should contact sophie.gruber@literaturfestival.com. The list of signatories as of November 17, 2014 includes the following:

Signatories World Wide Reading
in Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

ALGERIA
Yahia Belaskri, Algeria/ France
Amara Lakhous, Algeria/ Italia
Boualem Sansal, Algeria
Habib Tengour, Algeria/ France

ARGENTINA
María Teresa Andruetto, Argentina
Ana Arzoumanian, Argentina
Maria Cecilia Barbetta, Argentina/ Germany
Ariel Dorfman, Argentina/ Chile
Alberto Manguel, Argentina/ Canada/ France
Eduardo Sguiglia, Argentina

ARMENIA
Tigran Mansurian, Armenia
Hasmik Papian, Armenia/ Austria

AUSTRALIA
Pam Brown, Australia
Brian Castro, Australia
Peter Goldsworthy, Australia
Kevin Hart, Australia/ USA
Gail Jones, Australia
Herb Wharton, Australia

AUSTRIA
Christoph Haacker, Austria/ Germany
Josef Haslinger, Austria/ Germany
Wolfgang Hermann, Austria
Elfriede Jelinek, Austria
Gerald Jatzek, Austria
Elfriede Jelinek, Austria
Peter Stephan Jungk, Austria/ France
Konrad Kuhn, Austria/ Germany
Birgit Müller-Wieland, Austria/ Germany
Anna Maria Pammer, Austria/ Germany
Martin Pollack, Austria

BELGIUM
Stefaan Van den Bremt, Belgium
David Van Reybrouck, Belgium

BELORUSSIA
Vasyk Makhno, Belorussia/ USA

BRAZIL
Ricardo Azevedo, Brazil
Rafael Cardoso, Brazil
João Paulo Cuenca, Brazil
Milton Hatoum, Brazil
Reinaldo Moraes, Brazil

BULGARIA
Georgi Gospodinov, Bulgaria
Haralampi Oroschakoff, Bulgaria/ Germany/ France
Tzveta Sofronieva, Bulgaria

CAMEROON
Jean Claude Awono, Yaounde

CANADA
Paul Dutton, Canada
Émile Martel, Canada
Michael Ondaaatje, Canada
Jane Urquhart, Canada

CHILE
Carmen Berenguer, Chile

CHINA
Ha Jin, China/ USA
Liao Yiwu, China/ Germany

COLOMBIA
Héctor Abad, Colombia
Luis Galar, Colombia
Fernando Rendón, Colombia
Neftalí Sandoval-Vekarich, Colombia/ Serbia
Robert Max Steenkist, Colombia

CROATIA
Bora Ćosić, Croatia/ Germany
Dubravka Ugrešić, Croatia/ Netherlands/ USA

DENMARK
Janne Teller, Denmark

EGYPT
Alaa al-Aswani, Egypt

ESTONIA
Hasso Krull, Estonia
Jüri Talvet, Estonia

FINLAND
Jörn Donner, Finland
J. K. Ihalainen, Finland

FRANCE
Yves Bonnefoy, France
Stéphane Chaumet, France
Christine Gardon, France/ Germany
G. M. Goshgarian, France
Michel Mossessian, France/ UK
Claude Mutafian, France
Bernard Noël, France
Florence Noiville, France
Pierre Terzian, France

GERMANY
Dogan Akhanli, Germany
Jan Assmann, Germany
Güner Yasemin Balci, Germany
Wolf Biermann, Germany
Maxim Biller, Germany
Manfred Bissinger, Germany
Hans Peter Bleuel, Germany
Mirko Bonné, Germany
Hans Christoph Buch, Germany
Mihran Dabag, Germany
Tanja Dückers, Germany
Christine Gardon, Germany
Corinna Kirchhoff, Germany
Konrad Kuhn, Germany/ Austria
Reimer Boy Eilers, Germany
Dieter M. Gräf, Germany
Dilek Güven, Germany
Claus Guth, Germany
Christoph Haacker, Germany/ Austria
Hannes Heer, Germany
Frank Heibert, Germany
Barbara Honigmann, Germany/ France
Ulrich Horstmann, Germany
Rolf Hosfeld, Germany
Willi Jasper, Germany
Nina Jurisch, Germany
Navid Kermani, Germany
Corinna Kirchhoff, Germany
Sibylle Knauss, Germany
Gerd Koenen, Germany
Judith Kuckart, Germany
Reinhard Kleist, Germany
Birgit Mahnkopf, Germany
Manfred Maurenbrecher, Germany
Markus Meckel, Germany
Petra Morsbach, Germany
Karl Otto Mühl, Germany
Herta Müller, Romania/ Germany
Hans-Christian Oeser, Germany
Elisabeth Plessen, Germany
Moritz Rinke, Germany
Viola Roggenkamp, Germany
Said, Germany
Norbert Scheuer, Germany
Folker Skulima, Germany
Thomas Schmid, Germany
Peter Schneider, Germany
Julius Schoeps, Germany
Ulrich Schreiber, Germany
Christa Schuenke, Germany
Hermann Schulz, Germany
Alice Schwarzer, Germany
Peter Völker, Germany
Wolf Christian von Wedel Parlow, Germany
Suse Weisse, Germany
Ernest Wichner, Romania/ Germany
Herbert Wiesner, Germany

GREECE
Amanda Michalopoulou, Greece

HAITI
Edwidge Danticat, Haiti/ USA

HUNGARY
György Dragomán, Hungary
Andras Petöcz, Hungary
István Vörös, Hungary

ICELAND
Andri Snær Magnason, Island
Sigurdur Pálsson, Iceland

INDIA
Dileep Jhaveri, India
Kapur, Manju, India
Pankaj Mishra, India/ UK

INDONESIA
Afrizal Malna, Indonesia

IRAN
Amir Hassan Cheheltan, Iran
Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, Iran/ France
Faraj Sarkohi, Iran

IRAQ
Fadhil Al-Azzawi, Iraq/ Germany
Samuel Shimon, Iraq/ UK

IRELAND
Dany Morrison, Ireland
Gabriel Rosenstock, Ireland

ISRAEL
David Grossman, Israel
Amir Or, Israel
Chalfi, Raquel, Israel

ITALY
Ortensia Visconti, Italy/ Spain

LATVIA
Eugenijus Ališanka, Latvia
Gintaras Grajauskas, Latvia

LEBANON
Viken Berberian, Lebanon/ USA
Jabbour Douaihy, Lebanon
Rawi Hage, Lebanon/ Canada
Iman Humaydan, Lebanon
Lola Koundakjian, Lebanon/ USA

LUXEMBOURG
Jean Portante, Luxembourg/ France

LYBIA
Ashur Etwebi, Lybia

MEXICO
Chloe Aridjis, Mexico/ UK
Coral Bracho, Mexico
Lydia Cacho, Mexico
Verónica Murguía, Mexico

MYANMAR
Nyein Way, Myanmar

NETHERLANDS
Leon De Winter, Netherlands
Geert Mak, Netherlands
Anneke Brassinga, Netherlands
Johannes Houwink ten Cate, Netherlands

NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
Quito Nicolaas, Netherlands Antilles

NEW ZEALAND
Hamish Clayton, New Zealand
David Howard, New Zealand

NICARAGUA
Claribel Alegría, Nicaragua

NIGERIA
Tope Folarin, Nigeria/ USA

NORWAY
Tom Egeland, Norway
Hilde Susan Jaegtnes, Norway
Erling Kittelsen, Norway

OMAN
Badria Al Shihi, Oman

PAKISTAN
Ahmed Rashid, Pakistan

PALESTINE
Mahmoud Abuhashhash, Palestine
Ala Hlehel, Palestine
Adania Shibli, Palestine/ Germany

PERU
Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru/ Spain

POLAND
Anna Onichimowska, Anna, Poland
Rafał Skarżycki, Poland

PORTUGAL
Jorge Palma, Portugal

Republic of the Congo
Robinson Solo, Republic of the Congo

ROMANIA
Elena Armenescu, Romania
Norman Manea, Romania/ USA
Varujan Vosganian, Romania

RUSSIA
Vyacheslav Kupriyanov, Russia

SERBIA
Jovan Zivlak, Serbia

SLOVAKIA
Michael Hvorecky, Slovakia

SLOVENIA
Aleš Debeljak, Slovenia

SOUTH AFRICA
George Momogos, South Africa
Gertrude Fester, South Africa
John M. Coetzee, South Africa/ Australia
Breyten Breytenbach, South Africa/ France/ USA
Achmat Dangor, South Africa

SOUTH KOREA
Ko Un, South Korea

SPAIN
Francesc Capdevila, Spain
Quim Monzo, Spain

SUDAN
Leila Aboulela, Sudan/ UK

SWEDEN
Lars Gustafsson, Sweden
Annika Thor, Sweden

SWITZERLAND
Christoph Blum, Switzerland
Franz Hohler, Switzerland
Alberto Nessi, Switzerland
Peter Stamm, Switzerland

SYRIA
Hala Mohammad, Syria/ France

TURKEY
Dogan Akhanli, Turkey/ Germany
Agop J. Hacikyan, Turkey/ Canada
Sema Kaygusuz, Turkey
Rober Koptas, Turkey
Eylem Özdemir-Rinke, Turkey/ Germany
Orhan Pamuk, Turkey/ USA
Elif Shafak, Turkey/ UK

UK
Martin Amis, UK/ USA
Kwame Anthony Appiah, UK/ USA
Priya Basil, UK/ Germany
Carol Birch, UK
Tim Parks, UK
Taiye Selasi, UK/ Italy
Nicholas Shakespeare, UK
George Szirtes, UK
Irvine Welsh, UK

Ukraine
Ostap Slyvynsky, Ukraine
Oksana Zabuzhko, Ukraine

USA
Taner Akcam, USA
Shane Anderson, USA/ Germany
John Ashbery, USA
Kathryn Babayan, USA
Peter Balakian, USA
Charles Bernstein, USA
Noam Chomsky, USA
Carolyn Forche, USA
Ronald Grigor Suny, USA
Marilyn Hacker, USA
Joy Harjo, USA
Robert Hass, USA
Wayne Koestenbaum, USA
Nancy Kricorian, USA
Muriel Mirak-Weißbach, Germany/ USA
Fatma Müge Göcek, USA
Eileen Myles, USA
Judith Saryan, USA
Mayra Santos-Febres, USA/ Puerto Rico
Ronald Grigor Suny, USA
Anne Waldman, USA
Robert Wilson, USA/ France

VENEZUELA
Rosana Faría, Venezuela

VIETNAM
Nam Le, Vietnam/ Australia

ZIMBABWE
Tendai Huchu, Zimbabwe/ UK