The Story of the Afghan Women's Writing Group Tickets

This event will take place in the British Library Knowledge Centre Pigott Theatre. It will be simultaneously live streamed on the British Library platform. Tickets may be booked either to attend in person (physical) or to watch on our platform (online) either live or within 48 hours on catch up. Viewing links for the online version will be sent out in the confirmation email you receive after booking.

In August 2021, as the Taliban approached the gates of Kabul, twenty-one women writers in Afghanistan came online in their WhatsApp chat group: they asked what news others had heard and if everyone was safe? To mark the publication of My Dear Kabul: A year in the life of an Afghan women’s writing group (Coronet, 2024), the British Library, in partnership with Untold Narratives, invites you to hear the voices behind the story.

These women had been brought together as a writing group. They were about to publish their first collection of short stories, My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird: New Fiction by Afghan Women, (MacLehose Press 2022) while working regular day jobs. Some were students, some newly married, one was a grandmother: all were afraid of what was now to come. Over the twelve months, in the makeshift refuge of their WhatsApp group, they shared the day-to-day reality of life after the Taliban re-took Afghanistan.

My Dear Kabul is their collective diary: in it the writers watch cities transform, schools close and freedoms disappear. They share stories of chaos, protest and flight—and of life continuing. Together, their messages form a powerful chorus of resistance and solidarity. Join the Afghan writers and translators for readings from My Dear Kabul and a discussion about the process and importance of the book, moderated by the BBC’s International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet.

My Dear Kabul is published by Coronet. It is an Untold Narratives project, supported by Arts Council England, The Bagri Foundation and the British Council.

Doors and Bar open at 18:00. If you’re attending in person, please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event.

Half price tickets available for Members, Students, Under 26 and other concession groups.

@eventsBL

The British Library is a charity. Your support helps us open up a world of knowledge and inspiration for everyone. Donate today.