Sulaymaniyah Writers Join UNESCO Online Project with Melbourne Counterparts

PUKMEDIA

Participants of Inkubator.

Sulaymaniyah is taking part in a 10-week long online joint project organised by UNESCO, bringing together writers from the Kurdistan Region and Australia.

Kamran Subhan, a writer and playwright, told PUKMEDIA that the project functions as a virtual writers’ room, uniting five writers from Sulaymaniyah and five from Melbourne.

“Led by renowned teacher Emily Callier, the programme takes participants on a journey through the art of character creation. Each writer develops a character and presents it within an hour, after which one character from each side is selected,” Subhan explained.

He added that the project aims to provide inspiration for new writing and to foster meaningful cultural connections.

Kurdish Participants

- Lona Dilshad Mariwani – Writer, translator, and lecturer at the Department of English Language and Literature, University of Sulaymaniyah.

- Kamran Subhan – Writer and playwright.

- Hiwa Amin – Writer, screenwriter, and animation director specialising in children’s media.

- Andrya Peshraw – Writer and author of Andrea’s Stories, the first Kurdish memoir of its kind.

- Raber Omar Hussein – Writer and graduate of the Department of Kurdish Language and Literature, University of Sulaymaniyah.

Australian Participants

- Penelope Bartlow – Melbourne-based multidisciplinary artist working across 3D experiences, performance, and writing.

- James Buxton – Novelist inspired by Melbourne’s suburbs, blending cultural history with personal narratives.

- Vera Hardiman – German-born writer and lawyer living in the Yarra Valley, author of Finding Happiness When Life Is Hard (2024).

- Taylor Navarro – Writer and journalist with experience as a community newspaper editor.

- Andrew Starner – Theatre artist and researcher, recently moved from Philadelphia to Melbourne.

The initiative, titled the Inkubator Melbourne-Slemani, is supported by the Australian-Arab Relations Council under the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

*Editor's Note: Spelling of some of the names mentioned in the article could not be verified.



PUKMEDIA