Tuhin Das and Pittsburgh City of Asylum at Mt. Lebanon Public Library
The Bangladeshi poet and former ICORN resident in Pittsburgh, participated in a public reading held as part of an evening dedicated to the work of City of Asylum, the ICORN host in Pittsburgh, the United States on July 25th, 2022.
The event was organised by Mt. Lebanon Public Library in the suburb of Pittsburgh carrying the same name. It focused on the work of Tuhin Das and included a public reading of poems from his new poetry collection, Exile Poems: In the Labyrinth of Homesickness, which was published in April 2022. A representative from ‘Bridge and Tunnel Books’ which was the first US printing house to publish Tuhin Das’s poetic work. In addition to this, Tuhin Das is the author of eight collections of poetry in his native language, Bengali. You can see Tuhin Das’s resident profile here, and read an interview about his new book and life in exile here.
Aside from the literary aspect of the evening, representatives from City of Asylum talked about their work in the Pittsburgh community and the LIGHT Education Initiative, in particular. The educational outreach project is designed to establish connections between pupils, ranging from kindergarten students to high school graduates, and community members. The themes of these interactions are centred around issues of human rights, genocide, environmental and social justice, and civic responsibility, amongst others.
You can read more about City of Asylum, the LIGHT Education Initiative, and ICORN’s partnership with Pittsburgh City of Asylum.
