The Center’s fellows program is a non-residency based initiative partnered with PEN America’s Artists at Risk Connection that aims to support and collaborate with artists outside of the US whose freedom of expression is threatened due to their creative practice. Artists selected for the program will receive a stipend. Additionally, their work will be promoted and publicized through the Center’s website and online journal when appropriate. Whenever possible, we will invite them to participate in conversations, readings, and interviews with students in Center-supported courses.
Our Fellows
Amaury Pacheco del Monte is an Afro-Cuban interdisciplinary artist and poet. In 1997, he co-founded the Cuban art collective OmniZonafranca, 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.
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 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 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.
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.