Speakers at the meeting, on the theme “Our diversity, our commonalities”, highlighted the role of African writers and artists, through their literary and artistic works, in denouncing the excesses of colonialism in the past and its repercussions in the present, while confronting the waves of intolerance and hatred currently affecting different regions of the world.

“In fact, we are still colonized; our history is written by others. It’s time for us to appropriate our collective space and recover our stolen archives”, by resisting through storytelling and writing, noted Haitian poet Rodney Saint-Éloi.

Abdelkader Benali, a Moroccan writer and journalist based in the Netherlands, underscored the rise of the extreme right in today’s world, particularly in Western countries, while insisting that African writers must defend their identities and to be proud of their roots.

According to Franco-Ivorian novelist Véronique Tadjo, today’s world is full of incitements to intolerance. “Our wager is to stress the importance of listening to the Other, promoting the image and contributions of migrants in their host countries, rather than rejecting them,” she said.