Uplifting Voices: A New Word Travels Project
“What does home mean when home no longer exists in the same way? The words motherland, exile, and belonging are not just concepts. They live in the body. I come to tears every single time I say the word home or motherland. There are many reasons people are forced to migrate, war, danger, survival, the simple hope for safety. We're not talking about those who freely choose to migrate for a better life and can return if things don't work out. Forced migration has a different cost, leaving behind people, language, landscapes and many memories.”
- Shahrzad Shams from her recording below.
In the recorded interviews below, listen to Merna's Introduction for this project, to Shahrzad Sham's eloquent words on poetry, exile, and migration and her personal experiences as an immigrant from Iran, followed by Afghan poet Shogofa Amini's compelling poems addressing her country's violence and treatment of women with poems that also speak to her own strength and that of all Afghani women.
Word Travels: Bringing Refugee and Immigrant Voices to the Community is taking an exciting new direction from its roots as the Stories of Arrival: Refugee and Immigrant Youth Voices Poetry Project that took place at Foster High School in Tukwila, WA. We provided hundreds of refugee and immigrant youth opportunities for telling their own stories and giving voice to their hopes and dreams through writing poetry and creating visual arts pieces. The beautiful and impactful ways that poetry, visual art and stories serve to celebrate individual and cultural identities of newcomers to this country are at the heart of every Stories of Arrival and WORD TRAVELS project.
At this time, we are rising to meet the harsh circumstances placed on refugee, immigrant and asylum seeker communities from the current administration with a new format titled UPLIFTING VOICES. This is an audio or video project intended for podcast platforms and radio broadcast. Central to our core mission, we will record and share personal stories and poems that speak to each person’s experience carrying their many memories, struggles and dreams across borders to a new country. The Uplifting Voices Project will honor our shared humanity by providing a space for participants to give full expression to their experiences in their own voice. Participants can choose if they wish their names and/or countries of origin kept confidential.
If you are a refugee, immigrant or asylum seeker of any age and eager to tell your story in poetry or prose, or if you know of anyone who might want to participate, please email: wordtravels2025@gmail.com
Poetry and storytelling guidelines and workshops are provided and audio recording can take place at the Jack Straw Cultural Center in a state-of-the-art recording studio located only a five-minute walk from the University of Washington Link Train stop. Participants can also choose video recording and opt for more convenient locations for recording their stories. Each participant will receive a small cash stipend of appreciation.