The Canada Council for the Arts has united with PEN Canada to fund a residency at a Canadian university for writer in exile Genc Tirana. A financial contribution of $25,000 to PEN Canada will allow Genc Tirana, originally from Albania, to spend a year at the Univeristy of King’s College in Halifax. “We are fortunate to live in a country that values openness and freedom of expression, which is one of the reasons so many writers from other countries are attracted to Canada,” said John Hobday, Director of the Canada Council. “Our literature is what it is today at least partly because of the contribution of writers who have chosen Canada as their home. By helping PEN initiate residencies for exiled writers, we are recognizing the contribution these writers are making to Canada’s literary community.” PEN Canada President Haroon Siddiqui said that the Canada Council’s involvement in the initiative is “of extraordinary significance”. “Canada is the only nation in the western world which helps integrate refugee and exiled writers into the mainstream literary community in this way,” he said. “We are very pleased that an organization with the Canada Council’s prestige and longtime support for literature is working with us on this important project,” he said. For more information about PEN Canada and the Writers in Exile Network, CLICK HERE For further information, CLICK HERE