“Home is not where you are born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease.”
— Naguib Mahfouz, Nobel laureate whose novel, Children of the Alley, was banned in his home country
What We Do
City of Asylum/Detroit provides two-year fellowships for writers and artists who are in exile from their home countries and under threat of persecution because of their work. The goal of this sanctuary program is to enable each fellow to continue to produce work while transitioning to a stable, independent life in exile. During the fellowship, we provide a home, a stipend, legal counsel, medical benefits, and access to professional development opportunities.
City of Asylum/Detroit Fellow
Dieu-Nalio Chery
Photojournalist, Haiti
Pulitzer-nominated photojournalist Dieu-Nalio Chery’s family was forced into hiding after a gang whose illegal activities Chery had documented threatened their lives.
City of Asylum/Detroit Fellow
Pwaangulongii Dauod
Essayist, Nigeria
Award-winning writer Pwaangulongii Dauod survived a stabbing and an arson after his powerful writing on queer identity provoked conversation across Nigeria.
Our Mission
City of Asylum starts from a place of service to international writers and artists who are in danger because of who they are and the work they do. Their free expression threatens existing power structures, and we believe that protecting and supporting their voices is a powerful way to work towards justice on a global stage.
Our Vision
We envision a neighborhood where global and local concerns intersect, and where multiple communities are empowered through mutual support. Our programs transform blighted properties into spaces for local and global culture.
Our neighbor, the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative, is one of four urban farms providing locally grown produce in walking distance of our artist residences.
Credit: Michelle Gerard
“There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless.' There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.”
— Arundhati Roy, who was imprisoned for her support of Kashmiri independence
Alphabet City is an old masonic building renovated and used by City of Asylum. The building houses a bookstore, condos, offices, a restaurant, and serves as a venue space.
Our History
In 1993, a group of writers led by Salman Rushdie formed the International Parliament of Writers, and governments in several European cities agreed to provide one to two years of support for endangered writers in exile. These were called Cities of Asylum, and aimed to protect not only freedom of speech and publication, but also the physical safety of writers.
Today, there are 70+ cities of asylum across the world. Branches adapt the mission to their local contexts to engage and enrich the hosting community. In the US, cities of asylum lead grassroots efforts to renovate homes, sponsor community-based public art, build artist-designed green spaces, and publish magazines like The Believer, Witness, and Sampsonia Way.
Our Approach
Rather than focusing on emergency relief, or providing a temporary way-station, our commitment to our residents is to help them build a new life. We believe our fellows will have an outsized impact in Detroit by bringing their powerful voices for justice to our community. They stand at the forefront of political dissent, taking on disproportionate risks as they bear witness to inhumanity and catalyze solidarity. We bring over artists whose work and personal circumstances reflect and amplify the concerns of Detroit, where safe haven and self-determination are grounded in local history.
City of Asylum resident Tuhin Das in front of “House Poem,” a public artwork created by former resident Huang Xiang.
Credit: Ashley Cleek
City of Asylum houses on Sampsonia Way in Pittsburgh.
Credit: Deborah Fallows
