The Syrian Writers Association (Arabic: رابطة الكتاب السوريين) is a professional, non-profit, non-governmental cultural organisation promoting Syrian literature and freedom of speech, based in London and registered in the United Kingdom.
History
editThe Syrian Writers Association (SWA) was founded on 17 October 2012 in London, nine months after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. It began its activities on 18 January 2013, as a self-described "democratic alternative" to the Arab Writers Union in Damascus which operates under the control of the Syrian government. The SWA aims to promote Syrian literature and writers as part of a social movement based on freedom of expression.[1][2]
Among its founding members were Nouri Al-Jarrah, Hossam al-Din Mohamed and Khaldoun al-Shamaa in London, Sadiq Jalal al-Azm in Berlin, Yassin al-Haj Saleh in Damascus, Ali Kanaan and Mufid Najm in Abu Dhabi, and Faraj Bayrakdar in Sweden. The Association aims to "support and develop the national democratic culture in its various Arabic, Kurdish and other cultures in Syria, defend the legal status of the writers and preserve their rights and dignity." Further, it strives to support the intellectual and cultural goals for which it was established.[3][4]
In 2021, the SWA named 390 Syrian regular members, as well as other Arab writers and journalists as honorary members, including, but not limited to the following writers: Nouri Al-Jarrah, Sadiq Jalal al-Azm, Yassin al-Haj Saleh, Faraj Bayrakdar, Khalaf Ali Alkhalaf, Farouk Mardam Bey, Fawaz Haddad, Maha Hassan, Michel Kilo, Nihad Sirees, Burhan Ghalioun, Taisier Khalaf, Jan Dost, Khalid Khalifa, Dima Wannous, Razan Zaitouneh, Rasha Omran, Rosa Yasseen Hasan, Salim Barakat, Tayyeb Tizini, Aref Dalilah, Aisha Arnaout and others.[5]
The SWA publishes a journal titled Awrāq (Pages).[6]
Further reading
edit- Mermier, Franck (2022-10-06), "Creating a Syrian Culture in Exile: The Reconfigurations of Engagement", The Global Politics of Artistic Engagement, Brill, pp. 35–62, ISBN 978-90-04-51845-2, retrieved 2024-08-15
- Kassab, Elizabeth Suzanne (2014). "Critics and Rebels: Older Arab Intellectuals Reflect on the Uprisings". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 41 (1): 8–27. doi:10.1080/13530194.2014.878504. ISSN 1353-0194. JSTOR 43917047.
References
edit- ^ Croitoru, Joseph (2014-03-17). "Syria's opposition writers: Fighting oppression and censorship | Qantara.de". qantara.de. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ^ "Syrian writers establish independent writers' union". Ahram Online. 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ^ "تأسيس رابطة للكتاب السوريين مناهضة للنظام" [Establishment of an anti-regime Syrian Writers' Association]. www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). 2012-01-03. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ^ Hasso, Ahmed (2015-09-14). "رابطة الكتاب السوريين أول وليد ديمقراطي للثورة" [The Syrian Writers Association is the first democratic child of the revolution]. qantara.de/ar (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ^ "أعضاء رابطة الكتاب السوريين | رابطة الكتاب السوريين" [Members of the SWA]. www.syrianwa.net (in Arabic). 2021-03-07. Archived from the original on 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
- ^ Firat, Alexa; فرات, ألكسا (2017). "Re-formed Discourse: "Awrāq", Journal of the Syrian Writers' Association / إعادة تكوين الخطاب : ((أوراق)) ، مجلة رابطة الكتّاب السوريين". Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics (37): 262–287. ISSN 1110-8673. JSTOR 26191821.
External links
edit- Official website (in Arabic)