The process of going into exile demands both ordinary and extraordinary strength. It encompasses mundane bureaucratic steps that follow the loss of one’s home, such as navigating an unfamiliar transportation system, securing schooling and medical care, finding a place of worship, adapting to a new language, and building new relationships. This multifaceted experience can often feel nebulous and existential, appropriately expressed through the broken lines of poetry.
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A new folio features ten contemporary poets from nine different countries, all of whom have faced persecution, war, or genocide due to their writing. Their collective works illustrate a contemporary language of exile, characterized by themes of gallows humor, absurdity, reanimation, and meditations on prisons and graveyards. Among the featured poets is Nada Al Khawwam, who escaped Iraq following the 2003 invasion, reflecting on identity in her poem. Ashraf Fayadh, a Palestinian imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, writes of his soul's homogenization through oppressive experiences. Kerima Tariman, a Filipina revolutionary poet, was killed by the military in 2021; her writings from prison capture stark truths about life under threat.
Many poems in this collection have been published in limited formats or independent outlets, with some appearing in English for the first time. City of Asylum/Detroit, which provides two-year safe-haven fellowships for exiled writers and artists from locations such as Gaza and Nigeria, plays a critical role in platforming these voices.
In the past decade, the number of refugees globally has tripled, with the count of asylum seekers quadrupling. Currently, about 304 million people reside outside their countries, with a significant portion displaced by conflict or disaster. The cultural loss stemming from this displacement is immeasurable, and where creative expression is stifled, authoritarianism can flourish.
Initially, travel bans forced City of Asylum to rethink its fellowship program's framework. For instance, Tareq Hajjaj and Taimaa Salama, a couple fleeing genocide in Gaza, faced setbacks as their visas were revoked just before travel despite strong community support. This setback led the organization to launch its Fellowship-in-Exile initiative, allowing artists unable to travel due to visa restrictions to be hosted remotely. Hajjaj and another fellow, Aaiún Nin, are part of this folio.
This new approach also fosters clarity in mission and allows the organization to transcend borders, providing platforms to exiled writers while questioning the assumption that the West is a definitive safe haven.
Exile is a dual experience, marked by loss but also potential and humor. The gathered poems illustrate this complex state of being and aim to create an urgent framework for understanding belonging within an increasingly fluid world. This essay serves as an introduction to the folio "Broken Lines: A Gathering of Exiled Poets," curated by Laura Kraftowitz and Edward Salem, and can be further explored in the July/August 2026 issue of Poetry.