Kobani Literary Festival: elevating community literature
KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – The Cultural Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in Kobani, northern Syria, is organizing the second edition of the Kobani Literary Festival, which is scheduled to be held from November 12 to 14.
The festival aims to promote and support community literature in northeastern Syria, as well as to improve the overall level of literature in the region, with a specific focus on Kobani.
This festival coincides with the World Kobani Day which is observed on Nov. 1. The first World Kobani Day took place in 2014, when the city was still under a siege that caused massive destruction and saw Islamic State (ISIS) take control of half the city.
Ziad al-Ali, the co-chair of the AANES Cultural Board in the Euphrates Region, stated to North Press that the festival has several objectives, including focusing on community literature and encouraging the young generations to present their own literature works.
The security situation and the Turkish threats against northern northeastern Syria, specifically Kobani, postponed the festival to the aforementioned dates, al-Ali noted.
Khalisa Hassan, member of a local publishing house, said that the second edition of the Kobani Literary Festival will be held under the theme ‘For the word that has not been uttered yet, we are here’.
Hassan added that the festival includes various activities, including poetry and short story contest in both Arabic and Kurdish languages.
What distinguishes the festival in its second edition, according to Hassan, is the physical presence of guests, “which will make the festival better and richer than last year.”
In the first edition, due to the security situation in Kobani and the Turkish attacks in the region, guests participated in the festival remotely through online platforms.
The festival includes organizing lectures with guest speakers from outside the region, including the US and several Arab countries. Additionally, there will be poetry evenings and a book exhibition accompanying the festival.
The first edition of the Kobani Literary Festival took place from June 17 to 23, 2022, at the Baqi Khedo Center for Culture and Art in the city of Kobani, and was named after Kurdish writer Shahin Bakr Sorekli.