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Las Vegas, Nevada was the first city to offer sanctuary to a writer through Cities of Refuge North America, and is currently hosting internationally acclaimed Iranian novelist Moniro Ravanipour. She has published eight books in Iran, and translations of her work have also appeared in the West. Her story, Satan’s Stones, was selected for the ground-breaking anthology of Iranian literature, Strange Times, My Dear. Among her novels are The Drowned, Heart of Steel, and Gypsy by Fire. Ms. Ravanipour is a member of the Association of Iranian Writers and has been invited to give readings in Austria, France, Germany, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. In recent years, her work has elicited attention by Iran's government. In late 2006, police stripped all copies of her current work from bookstores countrywide. Prior to this episode, Satan’s Stones, among her other work, had been banned in Iran. Two more novels are currently under review by Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

To read more about Moniro Ravanipour and the previous writers hosted by City of Refuge Las Vegas, please click here.

For more information about City of Asylum Las Vegas, click here to visit their website, or contact the Black Mountain Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas by sending an email to: queries@blackmountaininstitute.org

Ithaca has provided asylum to writers in need since 2001, and was the second city to join Cities of Refuge North America. Sarah Mkhonza, Ithaca's current Writer in Residence, was forced to leave Swaziland in 2003 following a campaign of harassment against herself and her family. An outspoken voice for women’s rights under the monarchical Swazi regime, Dr. Mkhonza wrote newspaper columns for The Observer and The Swazi Sun that told of the daily struggles of Swazi women and children ejected from their land. As her popularity as a critic of the government’s repressive policies grew, she was told to stop writing. Her refusal resulted in threats, assaults, and hospitalization. Dr. Mkhonza has published two novels, What the Future Holds and Pains of a Maid, and is currently working on a third. She co-founded the Association of African Women, and the African Book Fund Group at Michigan State University, which has sent over 1000 books to the University of Swaziland and other African institutions.

To read more about Sarah Mkhonza and the previous writer hosted by Ithaca City of Asylum, please click here.

For more information about Ithaca City of Asylum, email Kenny Berkowitz at: kennyberkowitz@hotmail.com

Pittsburgh made its debut as a City of Asylum in November 2004, and currently provides sanctuary to Horacio Castellanos Moya.

Exiled from El Salvador and born in 1957, Horacio Castellanos Moya has been praised as an "extraordinary formal virtuoso" who is "the voice of Central America." Mr. Castellanos Moya is the author of eight novels, five short story collections and one book of essays. As editor-in-chief of the weekly independent newspaper Primera Plana, he investigated links between El Salvador's political and military rightist leaders and organized crime. In 1997, he published Revulsion: Thomas Bernhard in San Salvador, a novel exposing the political crimes of the forces in power and criticizing sensitive political and cultural aspects of Salvadoran life. As a result, he received death threats and, fearing for his life, went into exile.

To read more about Horacio Castellanos Moya, please click here.

For more information about City of Asylum/Pittsburgh, click here to visit their website, or email Ralph Henry Reese at: coapgh@yahoo.com