Out of Silence: Readings from the Afghan Women’s Writing Project

A week from today at 7 p.m., Arizona State University’s Project Humanities will be hosting a reading from the Afghan Women’s Writing Program (AWWP). Readings will be a selection of poems, essays, and stories written by Afghan women who, for security reasons, use only their first names or remain anonymous. These selections will be read by Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing students.

The Afghan Women’s Writing Program is a volunteer based organization that works to allow Afghan women to write and let their stories be heard by the world. The AWWP was founded in 2009 by international journalist and novelist Masha Hamilton. These women are mentored by American women writers, and the Afghan women’s writings are posted regularly on AWWP’s website, which can be found here http://www.awwproject.org. Check out the site to read more about the AWWP and to read writings from these women. Also, take the time to leave a comment and let these women know their voices are being heard.

The reading will be held on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus, Tuesday May 3, in Neeb Hall (NEEB) room 105. Admission is free and open to the public and there will be a reception following the reading. Project Humanities and the Afghan Women’s Writing Project will be accepting donations for the AWWP in the hopes of being able to purchase laptops, internet and additional library materials for the women’s safe writing house that has been established in Kabul. So, stop by campus next Tuesday and listen to stories and poems from women writers half a world away.