An Observation:

It seems a necessary entry in my book project given the situation in Afghanistan right now. Find out more about AWWP here: https://awwproject.org/

In a Nutshell:

Washing the Dust from Our Hearts: Poetry and Prose is a bilingual anthology, it was first written in English then translated as a whole into Dari (Afghan Persian). The collection is split into five sections: Marriage and Family, Love and Forgiveness, Education, Our Afghanistan and Our Strong Voices.

I loved this collection and read it in one sitting. A brilliant insight into life as an Afghan woman.

Quotes:

I loved this poem, Honeymoon in the Graveyard, especially the opening and closing lines:

“I am knitting blue wings into my dress, sewing sparrows in its sleeves……

I am tired of writing poems that smell like sorrow.”

Stockists: 

I ordered this directly from AWWP but it is no longer available there. Want to read Washing the Dust from Our Hearts: Poetry and Prose? Read some of the stories here.

Washing the Dust from Our Hearts: Poetry and Prose from Writers of the Afghan Women’s Writing Project

Written by Afghan Women’s Writing Project

Translated from the Dari (Afghan Persian) by Pari with Ahmed Aria

23/06/2015, AWWP

ISBN: 978-0991386161

Authors: Afghan Women’s Writing Project

The Afghan Women’s Writing Project (AWWP) was founded in 2009 by American journalist Masha Hamilton, in defence of telling stories, a right that has been all too often denied Afghan women. Through online creative writing workshops facilitated by international writers, teachers and journalists, AWWP empowers women writers in seven of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, to develop their voices. Their work is published in an online magazine that reaches an international audience and provides great insights into what it is to be a woman in Afghanistan.

Translators: Pari and Ahmed Aria

For obvious reasons, there is limited information about the translators.