Writing from Aleppo to exile and back again
“I moved to the US to write a book about…” and the topic of my book changes depending on so many factors, my mood, the identity of the person who asked and the language that I will use to respond, Arabic or English. I would answer “about Syria’’, if I have enough energy to discuss... Continue Reading →
I wasn’t sure if I could write about Ukraine as a Syrian who survived barrel bomb attacks on my hometown Aleppo. I don’t know how to write about the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a woman whose city could be destroyed, besieged, and whose people could be exiled as a result of the Russian intervention... Continue Reading →
This six-week Creative Nonfiction Writing Workshop brought together Syrian women writers to explore writing as both a creative and political practice. The workshop was designed to support participants in developing the skills, confidence, and critical tools needed to articulate their experiences, perspectives, and positions in public life. Grounded in the principles of creative nonfiction, the... Continue Reading →
I recently concluded a six-week creative writing workshop with a group of Syrian women leaders and activists, an experience I carry with deep gratitude and pride. This workshop was designed as a space of resistance and care. A space to write against silencing, fear, and political erasure, and to reclaim language as a tool for... Continue Reading →
When was my first attempt to claim a voice, and whose voice tried to silence mine? Did the silencing begin in my school in Aleppo? When I was forced to memorize and believe in anything our “eternal leader” said? Some forms of silencing left marks on my voice; some made me louder. * “I see... Continue Reading →
We know the water between the fear and the dream We wish we didn’t though We know the parenthood that forces you to choose between bad and worse, We wish we didn’t We know the heartless borders We were forced to know the smugglers We never trusted them, but we didn't have the luxury to... Continue Reading →
Throughout my childhood, and until I came of age, there was no diversity among my group of friends: not a single Muslim in a city whose Muslim population runs into the millions, no Kurds, no Armenian Christians. So I grew up in the box, with few opportunities to meet anyone outside its confines. This was... Continue Reading →
Let’s discuss “peacefully” that “elephant in the room”, as you say, what if we accept that Assad remains in power? We are asked the question sometimes obliquely, and sometimes filtered through the closed circles that decide on Syrian affairs without the attendance of any Syrians. Sometimes it is brought up in ways that infantalize as... Continue Reading →
To all those who will inhabit the places we left…. We once had a revolution there. I never resided in those neighborhoods, but was a visitor, a stranger, with all my little rituals, such as greeting the neighbor on the staircase in the morning, my frantic searches for products that were not customarily sold there,... Continue Reading →
Immediately after we’d finished discussing the challenges facing Aleppo in front of a large audience I was asked by a friend of mine, a leading figure in the Syrian civil society movement, how I was able to appear so unmoved, without anger or emotion, even when talking about the most painful experiences of my life... Continue Reading →
Marcelle Shehwaro 