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In December 1987 a group of published novelists, poets, and journalists met in Vienna to participate in the Wheatland Conference on Literature. The writers presented papers addressing their common experience—that of being exiled. Each explored different facets of the condition of exile, providing answers to questions such as: What do exiled writers have in common? What is the exile’s obligation to colleagues and readers in the country of origin? Is the effect of changing languages one of enrichment or impoverishment? How does the new society treat the emigre? Following each essay is a peer discussion of the topic addressed.
The volume includes writers whose origins lie in Central Europe, South Africa, Israel, Cuba, Chile, Somalia, and Turkey. Through their testimony of the creative process in exile, we gain insight into the forces which affect the creative process as a whole.Contributors. William Gass, Yury Miloslavsky, Jan Vladislav, Jiri Grusa, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Horst Bienek, Edward Limonov, Nedim Gursel, Nuruddin Farah, Jaroslav Vejvoda, Anton Shammas, Joseph Brodsky, Wojciech Karpinski, Thomas Venclova, Yuri Druzhnikov
List of contents
Preface vii
The Philosophical Significance of Exile / William Gass 1
Aquae et ignis interdictio / Yury Miloslavsky 8
Exile, Responsibility, Destiny / Jan Vladislav 14
The Portable Ghetto / Jirí Gruša 28
The Invisible Exile / Guillermo Cabrera Infante 34
Exile Is Rebellion / Horst Bienek 41
Thirteen Studies on Exile / Edward Limonov 49
Words of Exile / Nedim Gürsel 59
In Praise of Exile / Nuruddin Farah 64
This Swelling Exodus / Jaroslav Vejvoda 78
Exile from a Democracy / Anton Shammas 84
The Condition We Call "Exile" / Joseph Brodsky 100
The Exile as Writer: A Conversation about Sorrow and Joy / Wojciech Karpinski 131
An Exercise in Futility: The Case of Andrei Kurbsky / Tomas Venclova 139
Report of a New Arrival / Yuri Druzhnikow 149
Glossary of Names 155
Notes on Contributors 162
About the author
John Glad, ed.
