Narratives in Suspension: Paneldiskussion mit Widad Nabi, Jina Khayyer und Elnathan John, moderiert von Kenan Khadaj

This conversation brings together three authors whose work draws on experiences of disruption, displacement and living between different places, languages and political realities. Jina Khayyer, Widad Nabi and Elnathan John reflect on what it means to write when the future is uncertain and one's sense of belonging remains provisional. Each of them approaches this situation from a different angle: Khayyer's work moves between memory, heritage and political awakening, most vividly in her novel Im Herzen der Katze (Suhrkamp Verlag, 2025), in which personal history intertwines with the protests of 2022 in Iran and the fate of women whose lives are characterized by exile and resistance. Nabi writes from the lived experience of Syrian exile: in poetry collections such as Invisible Fractures (Sujet Verlag, 2022) and Shortly before thirty ... kiss me (Sujet Verlag, 2019), her poetry bundles fragments of war, language and displacement into a voice that insists on its independence despite all the fractures. John's works are set in contemporary Nigeria and oscillate between fiction and satire. His novel Born on a Tuesday (Grove Atlantic, 2016) follows the traces of a life marked by religious and political violence, while Be(com)ing Nigerian (Durnell Central, 2019) exposes the absurdities and contradictions of everyday life with a sharp tongue and startling humor.

In Arabic, English and German with simultaneous translation

This event is part of Plural Citizenships and Common Exceptions.