![]() ![]() In comments made after their resignation, Gessen made clear that their issue was not with the sensitivities of Ukrainians fighting a “defensive war” but with PEN’s response.ĭescribing the situation, Gessen said: “I felt like I was being asked to tell these people that because they’re Russians they can’t sit at the big table they have to sit at the little table off to the side … Which felt distasteful.” skip past newsletter promotion On arriving in New York, however, the Ukrainian writers discovered the separate panel involving Gessen and said they could not be involved, even as PEN America tried to reorganise the Russian dissident event to take place outside of the auspices of the festival but at the same venue, a solution both sides rejected. We mistakenly took that to mean their panel, not the entire festival.” ![]() They informed us in advance that they could participate with us as long as no Russians were part of the ‘event’. “The Ukrainian writers who were invited are members of the military on active duty. “Separately we had planned an event, to have included Masha, with Russian dissident writers who are now living in New York City on the theme of writing in exile from tyranny. “Working in partnership with PEN Ukraine, we had invited several Ukrainian writers to be part of this year’s festival and discuss their experiences as writers and soldiers. PEN America said in a statement that the “events that precipitated resignation began with an error on our part about what would be feasible within the parameters of our annual World Voices Festival of International Literature. “Until the war ends,” he added, “a soldier can not be seen with the ‘good Russians.’” While Gessen – who uses they/them pronouns – was born in Russia but lives in the US is seen by many as an “American writer,” the presence of the two others on the panel complicated the issue with Chapeye telling the Atlantic, which first broke the story, he could not make distinctions between “good” Russians and “bad” Russians. ![]() In a statement released by PEN America on Tuesday, the group admitted it had made “mistakes” and misunderstood a requirement from two Ukrainian participants, Artem Chapeye and Artem Chekh, who are also serving soldiers, that they could not be involved in PEN’s World Voices festival if Russian writers were involved in any way. That has spilled over into often heated debate among Ukrainian voices on social media over making a distinction between what they refer to as “good” or “bad” Russians. ![]()
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