Voices of the Silenced: Scholastique Mukasonga at the PEN World Voices Festival

Scholastique Mukasonga belongs to a group of pioneering authors who have broken the silence and share stories of survival. Genocide in Rwanda displaced Scholastique and her family, forcing them to flee their home, first to Burundi and later to France. She has shared these experiences and captured readers through both her memoirs, Cockroaches and Barefoot Woman, as well as her novel, Our Lady of the Nile.

On May 11, Scholastique will join authors Marcia Tiburi and Idra Novey in a panel discussion titled “Voices of the Silenced,” moderated by Executive Director of Words Without Borders, Karen M. Phillips. The authors will discuss how their transcendent stories of violence and resilience give voice to the silenced, create space for remembrance, and encourage both reckoning and resistance.