Narratives in Suspension

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 only temporary. Each of them approaches this situation from a different perspective: Khayyer’s work moves between memory, heritage, and political upheaval, most vividly in her novel *In the Heart of the Cat* (2025), in which personal history intertwines with the 2022 protests in Iran and the fate of women whose lives are marked by exile and resistance. Nabi writes from the lived experience of Syrian exile: In poetry collections such as Invisible Breaks (2022) and Just Before Thirty… Kiss Me (2019), her poetry weaves fragments of war, language, and displacement into a voice that insists on its autonomy despite all the fractures. John’s works are set in contemporary Nigeria and oscillate between fiction and satire. His novel *Born on a Tuesday* (2016) traces a life marked by religious and political violence, while *Be(com)ing Nigerian* (2019) exposes the absurdities and contradictions of everyday life with a sharp tongue and a jarring sense of humor.

In Arabic, English, and German with simultaneous translation

This event is part of Plural Citizenships and Common Exceptions.