Writing & Restoration

When the writer and former prisoner Mohamedou Ould Slahi left the infamous U.S. military’s detention center at Guantánamo Bay Cuba, his 2015 memoir Guantánamo Diary had become a bestseller and translated into more than a dozen languages.
The text had been heavily redacted by U.S. government censors; nevertheless, readers around the world were fascinated with Slahi’s narrative and his generous call for reconciliation.
As Slahi will discuss at this event, once reaching home he worked 'with an editor on a restored version. This involved using memory to replace the redaction found in the first edition, which he has called “a broken text.” He published the restored version of his memoir, which includes a powerful, new introduction, in 2017.
At this event, audience members will have the opportunity to ask Slahi questions about his writings and to learn more about Guantánamo Bay. University of Graz students who are enrolled in the American Studies course ‘The Humanities Respond: Ethics, Justice, and Hope at Guantánamo Bay’ will read from Slahi’s works. Slahi has been cleared of any wrongdoing by multiple government agencies, but he has not had his passport returned and therefore cannot travel internationally. For this reason, he will participate via Skype.

When: Thu, 9th of May, 07:00 -08:30 pm

Where: Afro-Asian Institute, Leechgasse 24

Entrance is free and open to the public.
The event is organized by the Department of American Studies in cooperation with the Afro-Asian-Institute of Graz and C.IAS (Center for Inter-American Studies).