Evoking a monument in Venice

Author's name: Khalid Al-Yamlahi

On a January afternoon in 2017, a young Gambian refugee named Pathé, aged 22, threw himself into Venice's Grand Canal and drowned before the eyes and jeers of onlookers. Haunted by this tragedy, a young writer embarks on a journey to reconstruct the sequence of events, to articulate his shock and outrage. In a fragmented narrative where reality and fiction intertwine, the narrator consults news sites, searches the press for evidence, and unearths truths buried in the pages of history and literature. Along this journey, fraught with surprises and emotions, other stories intertwine, attempting to rescue young people caught in the maelstrom of current events from the clutches of oblivion. From Africa, with its deep roots and fractures, to Venice, with its myths and illusions, a poetic voice emerges—one that is both supportive and defiant: condemning hatred of the other and erecting a literary monument to human dignity.