A Conversation with Syrian-Swedish Author Suzanne Ibrahim on the Contemporary Syrian Context

02 Dec A Conversation with Syrian-Swedish Author Suzanne Ibrahim on the Contemporary Syrian Context

On Thursday, December 11, at 6 PM at the KROKODIL Center, an event will be held with the 151st guest of KROKODIL’s Residency program: Syrian-Swedish poet, writer, and journalist Suzanne Ibrahim, who was forced to flee her homeland of Syria to Sweden due to persistent targeting by the authorities. The conversation will be in English.
 

While living in Damascus during the first few years of the civil war, Suzanne Ibrahim documented the conflict and its impact on everyday life and the cultural scene. Due to her work, she faced censorship, political pressure, and even death threats. Thanks to the ICORN network, she found refuge in Sweden, where she lived in Östersund for two years as a writer in exile (2018–2020), which provided her with protection and a platform to continue her literary and cultural work. Suzanne Ibrahim still lives in Sweden, where she continues to write, publish, and speak about war, memory, displacement, and identity from a diasporic perspective

Mirko Dautović, an international relations analyst, will speak with our guest about her experiences, documenting the war, and life as a refugee, as well as the current situation in Syria—a war-torn country that, after thirteen years of conflict, remains divided and subject to the interference and influence of foreign powers, ranging from the USA, Turkey, and Iran to Russia.

Suzanne Ibrahim’s residency is realized within the framework of the Centers of Periphery 2.0 project, jointly created by the Littfest literary festival (Umeå) and Association KROKODIL. The project aims to strengthen ties between the Nordic and post-Yugoslav cultural scenes and develop a strong foundation for collaboration; promote democratic values, freedom of expression, and human rights through literary exchange; and amplify peripheral and/or underrepresented voices while creating opportunities for dialogue.

The Centers of Periphery 2.0 project is supported by the Swedish Institute.