There's a new writer at City of Asylum. Cuban native Jorge Olivera Castillo has moved to the North Side along with his wife, political activist Nancy Alfaya Hernandez.
They cannot return to Cuba. They are in “exile.”
Castillo and his wife have been in and out of prison in Cuba multiple times and repeatedly harassed and harried by police. His work — collections of short stories and songs and poetry — is banned in his native country.
Such is the life of a writer in exile, the very sort of dissident that City of Asylum seeks to help. Founded in 2004, Pittsburgh’s affiliate of the international nonprofit has housed numerous writers and artists facing persecution in their home countries, put on hundreds of live and online educational and artistic programs and slowly transformed the Mexican War Streets neighborhood with vibrantly painted houses, a community garden and more.
Castillo arrived in early November for a three-year residency on Sampsonia Way. He and his wife are safe for the time being, but they face a difficult road ahead, cut off from family and friends and their home. Still, they have hope for a better tomorrow.
Earlier this year, City of Asylum celebrated another milestone. Pittsburgh’s first writer in exile, Chinese poet and artist Huang Xiang, earned U.S. Citizenship on Feb. 12, coincidentally the same day as the Chinese New Year. Since his time here, Huang Xiang has been able to visit his home country and now lives and works as an artist in New York City.
Escape
Every writer’s journey is different, but each has found safe harbor at City of Asylum as he or she regroups and continues to work.
“In 2003 I was arrested, sentenced to 18 years of prison,” Castillo said in an interview.
“I couldn’t see my lawyer until 5 minutes before trial, and he told me that the case had already been decided before I appeared in court.”
He spent much of his time in prison in solitary confinement, he said. Due to health and humanitarian reasons, Castillo was released after 20 months and 18 days, but his sentence was never commuted.
In 2016, he and his wife visited Harvard University for a one-year residency, but on their return, scrutiny and pressure increased dramatically. She was abducted by police repeatedly and held in an unknown location. Hernandez was banned from leaving the country due to pro human rights social media posts and placed in house arrest without due process.
“It’s very common, these actions,” Castillo said. “For the Cuban police, this is something normal.”
Their situation caught the eye of international human rights organizations, which began applying pressure to the Cuban government to allow them to depart unmolested. When Castillo was invited to speak at Harvard in 2020, he and his wife were warned that if they left, they'd be imprisoned on their return.
“Most people have fears because the police are everywhere,” he said. “Yeah, it’s complicated to live in Cuba as a dissident, as an independent journalist or writer. It’s very dangerous.”
Yet Castillo continued to write, producing eight books of short stories and poetry about his time in prison or a stint in the military. The books could not be published in Cuba and were sent to other countries for translation and publication. Some came back.
“If the police caught someone reading my books, it’s a problem,” he said. “But always, still, my books made it back to Cuba.”
This summer, a shortage of food and medicine in Cuba triggered a series of major protests, the largest anti-government demonstrations in a generation. Protesters were arrested and there were small changes to import restrictions and U.S. sanctions of Cuban officials.
“If we had been in Cuba, we would have been arrested, 100%,” Hernandez said. “The police are arresting young people especially, with sentences from 10 to 25 years just for protesting. It's a terrible time.”
Asylum
After short residencies at Harvard and other institutions, Castillo and Hernandez found their way to the North Side and City of Asylum, which was founded by Pittsburghers Henry Reese and Diane Samuels.
The international nonprofit began in 1989 when writer Salman Rushdie was forced into hiding after publishing his “Satanic Verses.” The Supreme Leader of Iran issued a fatwa against Rushdie, who would later found the International Parliament of Writers after a series of attacks and assassinations of writers. The organization worked with several European cities to provide a year or two of support for writers persecuted in their home countries.
Reese and Samuels brought the program to the U.S. It provides fully furnished housing, stipends, health insurance, legal counsel and professional support.
“We also commission translations, and we work with publishers to get their works published,” said Andres Franco, executive director of City of Asylum since 2020.
The organization initially could host only one writer at a time but has grown dramatically. Its $1.5 million annual budget now supports readings, performances and about six writers and artists at a time. There are also City of Asylum programs in Las Vegas and Ithaca, N.Y., but Pittsburgh’s is larger, Franco said. “City of Asylum Pittsburgh hosts more exiled writers than many whole countries in Europe.”
When a spot opens up here, Franco works with the International Cities of Refuge Network to identify a candidate. Sometimes that person is already in this country; others need assistance departing their country safely. Writers sometimes must remain anonymous while in Pittsburgh to protect their safety.
While City of Asylum does receive some public funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Allegheny Regional Asset District, the vast majority (about 80%) comes from individuals and foundations.
New cycles
The organization continues to grow. On Nov. 21, City of Asylum inaugurated its fifth “House Publication” — a new painting on the façade of a house where an exiled artist lives. Bangladeshi writer Tuhin Das, who arrived in 2016, painted the façade of his house on Sampsonia Way with a poem in Bengali in the shape of a comma, giving rise to the name “Comma House.”
Painting the houses began in 2004, when City of Asylum welcomed its first writer in residence.
“Nov. 21 is actually the same day that Huang Xiang inaugurated his own house,” Franco said. “Huang had only arrived in October, so it took him less than a month — that's the kind of pent-up energy he had.”
Huang's story is difficult. Born in the Hunan Province in 1941, he began writing poetry at a young age and lived through the Cultural Revolution. His father was executed in 1951 and he faced severe discrimination in his youth due to his father’s status as a general in the Kuomintang army. He was imprisoned numerous times due to his writings and his advocacy for human rights and democracy. His books were banned.
“I am the initiator of the Chinese Democracy Wall movement in the 20th century,” Huang wrote in an email with the aid of a translator.
In 1978, he and some of his colleagues posted large posters of their poems on 70 yards of fence in Tiananmen Square, including a banner proclaiming “The Cultural Revolution Must Be Reevaluated!”
“I oppose violent revolution, class struggle, Mao Zedong’s idol worship and unprecedented catastrophe in the name of the Cultural Revolution in human history,” he wrote to the Post-Gazette, explaining that a fellow scholar and writer in exile recommended him to City of Asylum.
“Without the help of the Human Rights Watch and the Chinese Human Rights Organization, my spiritual partner and I would never have come to the United States,” he wrote.
In a video interview with Huang and his partner, Zhang Ling, she recalled the persecution, house arrest and a months-long struggle to leave the country.
“In China it’s difficult, not like other countries. It was almost impossible to get a passport," she said.
“Only in the multiculturally compatible America can I truly enjoy the freedom of thought and press,” Huang said.
Upon arriving in Pittsburgh, he set to work immediately, carving poetry into the façade of his house and writing and developing his craft. He began performing readings of his work outside his house in his native tongue. Hundreds of people would stop to listen, kickstarting City of Asylum’s dedication to live performance.
When saxophonist Oliver Lake began providing musical support to those readings, “Jazz Poetry Month” was born. It’s another facet of the organization that continues to this day.
Since their time in Pittsburgh, Huang has been nominated for a Nobel Prize for “A Bilingual Edition of Poetry Out of Communist China.” Other English translations of his work include his autobiography, “Poet on Fire inside Communist China.” Though he and his partner have settled in New York City, they hope to one day return and develop a museum in Pittsburgh.
“City of Asylum is a very beautiful memory for us,” Zhang said.
The couple were able to return to visit China. But Castillo and Hernandez don't know if they will be able to go back to Cuba.
“We must wait for a change inside Cuba for another system, but I don’t know how this event will happen or when,” he said.
Living texts
In addition to hosting writers and performances, City of Asylum operates a bookstore and restaurant, 40 North at Alphabet City, as well as the Alphabet Reading Garden nearby. It’s paved with custom-made bricks inscribed with letters from various alphabets.
“Since opening Alphabet City in 2017, we have presented more than 800 programs for an audience of over 90,000,” Franco said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live performances, the organization pivoted to online offerings, drawing tens of thousands of viewers from all 50 states and more than 65 countries. Still, Franco says there’s appetite for growth.
“Every situation is different. Some come with spouses, some come with small children. I am from Colombia, I know how hard it is to get to a new culture and learn a new language and new geography and new climate … new everything.
“If we had infinite resources, we’d bring as many as we could.”
Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1634; Twitter: @Reynolds_PG. His work at the Post-Gazette is supported by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.
First Published: December 9, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
Updated: December 9, 2021, 11:17 a.m.
