EXILED LIT CAFE
Every month hear some fantastic exiled writers and musicians and there is an Open Mic session too.
Exiled Lit Cafe
Wednesday 14th January 2026 at 7 pm
Meet the Authors
The Authors
Brian Chikwava, Mandana Hendessi, Hastie Salih & Karina Lickorish Quinn
Brian Chikwava will be interviewed by Sana Nassari
Mandana Hendessi by Rouhi Shafii
Hastie Salih by Danielle Maisano
Karina Lickorish Quinn by Soraya Fernandez DF
Brian Chikwava is the author of Harare North (Jonathan Cape, 2009). He’s a past winner of the Caine Prize for African Short Fiction. His second novel, Shamiso, was published by Canongate in August 2025.
Dr Hastie Salih has published short stories, poems and two novels – Dahlia and Carys (2023) and The Cradle and the Cage (2025). Hastie is of Kurdish heritage from Sulaymaniyah and has lived in Wales, Germany, Belgium and London. She is a RCGP Fellow and a member of Doctors of the World, Jericho Writers, Royal Society of Literature, Exiled Writers Ink and GLADD.
Mandana Hendessi is a writer and women’s rights advocate whose debut novel, The Almond Garden of Kabul (Afsana Press, 2025), is inspired by her years working in Afghanistan, some of which were spent in women’s prisons. Her fiction explores resilience, memory and silence as acts of resistance. She has also worked in Iraq and Syria, advancing gender equality in some of the world’s fragile regions.
Karina Lickorish Quinn is a Peruvian-British writer who grew up between the English Midlands, Lima and New York. Her first novel was The Dust Never Settles (2021) and her second was The House of Skin (2023). Her fiction, essays and translations have been published in diverse literary journals. She was short-listed for the White Review’s short story prize and her work was featured in Un Nuevo Sol, the first major anthology of British-Latinx writers (Flipped Eye, 2019).
Danielle Maisano Originally from Michigan, Danielle Maisano is a novelist, poet and journalist. Her debut novel, The Ardent Witness (2019) was an award-winning finalist for the 2019 International Book Awards fiction category.
Sana Nassari is a poet and literary translator recently featured in The Observer. She has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Brunel University, SOAS University, and with the Caine Prize, among others.
Rouhi Shafii is a social scientist and author. Her memoir is Scent of Saffron, three generations of an Iranian family (Scarlet Press) while Pomegranate Hearts, is a historical love story in which 20th century Iran is reviewed.
Soraya Fernandez DF is an Ecuadorian poet, textile/ multidisciplinary artist and fashion designer. She has published two anthologies with The House of Ecuadorian Culture Quito, Ecuador (2017 & 2022) and Agujeros (Holes) 2022 London, a collection of poems, short stories and tales.
Curated and hosted by Jennifer Langer, poet and EWI founding director
49 Great Ormond Street
London WC1N 3HZ
Nearest tube stations: Holborn or Russell Square.
£4 for 2026 Exiled Writers Ink Members
£6 for others. Free for asylum seekers
Book by Eventbrite or Cash only on the door
