Writing from within the abyss, with Dr Hyab Yohannes

This talk explores the dual nature of writing, as both a ‘Journey’ and an act of resistance, with a particular focus on Hyab Yohannes’ recently published book, The Refugee Abyss. Written in plurivocal form, the book weaves together the voices of its participants and the writer, carried through the collective pronouns ‘we’ and ‘us’. Through poetic, theoretical, and embodied writing, it reclaims the voices of displaced people as thinking, writing, and world-building beings, speaking from within the abyss. This talk invites the audience to reflect on what it means to write, and to survive, at the crossroads of erasure and expression, silence and speech, powerlessness and creativity.

Dr Hyab Teklehaimanot Yohannes is Lecturer in Forced Migration and Decolonial Education with the UNESCO Chair on Refugee Integration through Education, Language, and Arts (UNESCO RIELA) at the University of Glasgow. His work involves conducting research and synthesising findings to provide insights into theoretical, methodological, and policy-related questions. Recently, Hyab co-edited a Special Issue on Intercultural Knowledge Production for the Journal of Language and Intercultural Communication. Additionally, he published his book ‘The Refugee Abyss’ with Routledge this year, which is the focus of today's talk. Hyab’s research interests include decoloniality, cultures of peace, political theories, and (b)ordering (physical, onto-epistemic, spatio-temporal, juridico-political, etc.).

This event is part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science. The festival explores the world of social science, from how society has shaped our local areas to behaviours that help fight climate change. This year a number of our events will focus on our working lives, exploring the relationship between humans and digital technology. This year, the festival runs from Saturday 18 October to Saturday 8 November 2025.

Read more about the festival on the Festival of Social Science website.

Also check out other Festivals in Glasgow, Arts events in Glasgow, Literary Art events in Glasgow.