My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird: New Fiction by Afghan Women

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These stories deserve to be read, not out of a sense of social responsibility, but because they are good, and because it is a tragedy that voices like these are silenced all over the world. When Lucy Hannah decided to put together an anthology of short stories by Afghan women in 2019, it already seemed like a hugely ambitious project. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. A place where they are not allowed to express themselves or pursue their dreams and where the other half silences half of the population.

This book has taught me to cherish some things I have (like freedom, right to speech and living in a peaceful environment), which for Afghans is a far-off dream. But no matter who the lead character, every story is underlined by a sense of loss, worrying over the what-is and wondering about the what-if. My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird is a landmark collection: the first anthology of short fiction by Afghan women in English translation. So no matter what atrocities and struggles are mentioned in this anthology, things are even worse now. These stories demand that we not just provide long-distance witness to these women's lives, but that we we consider concrete actions that might provide meaningful change and find ways to use the power we have, even if at times we feel powerless.

This is the kind of book that makes you pause and reflect and appreciate the freedoms and privileges we enjoy and, more often than not take for granted. It represents the power of fiction and the role of the artist to stand up to authority in the hope of making life better. D for Daud by Anahita Gharib Nawaz is one story that triggered every emotion from heartbreak to love. At the end of this collection, in the Afterword by Lucy Hannah, it is explicit that these stories for now cannot be published in Afghanistan, it is too dangerous.

The pandemic and the resumption of Taliban rule have made the publication of My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird little short of a miracle .

D for Daud" by Anahita Gharib Nawaz told of extraordinary bravery and compasison of a teacher and "A Common Language" that showed how solidarity of women together can impact change for them, albeit in a painfully slow way. With an Introduction by BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet and an Afterword by Lucy Hannah.

Eighteen Afghan women’s works written in their native Pashto or Dari language were translated for this deeply impactful anthology. The stories have been divided across four untitled sections, but I simply could not figure out the basis of the compartmentalisation. These stories make for deeply sobering reading and depict the options—or the lack of options—available to Afdghani women.

It did not let me rest till I finished it, as after reading one story, I wanted to read the next one.

A liveable world for everyone, but especially for women at a time when their body and soul are being destroyed. Zubair Popalzai), a woman motivates the other women in the village to band together to dig ditches to save their village from flooding. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products.A collection of stories like this written by Afghan Women where we get to gain an insight into their stories and experiences are too important for a little book reviewer like me to even begin to judge. The stories that most stood out to me were "The Late Shift" by Sharifa Pasun that talks about how brave a female journalist as she deals with conflicting vocations of motherhood and truth.