What does it mean to be a writer whose homeland – or generational homeland – is at the heart of world headlines?

The Booker Prize-longlisted Endling by Ukrainian-Canadian author Maria Reva began as a novel about the Ukrainian marriage industry until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted Reva’s writing process and, indeed, the novel itself.

Palestinian scholar Tareq Baconi’s memoir Fire in Every Direction traces both his queer awakening and generations of his family’s displacement through war, reaching readers at a crucial moment in Palestine’s history.

What is the writer’s responsibility to document these moments in their country’s histories? And with their homes now spanning Vancouver and London, how do they navigate living here, writing there?

Chaired by Julia Wheeler.