The Identity of Hope

Writing and Sharing Stories

A creative writing project that enabled young refugees to communicate their lived experiences.

Hawiyyet al-Amal roughly translates to “The Identity of Hope”. The team wanted to shed light on their experiences of bullying, stereotyping and marginalisation they have faced. They wanted others, and the community at large, to rethink their identities and reshape them to be more positive. 

Among the group were writers, poets, actors and spoken word artists. Over the course of ten workshops, they trained in creative writing with a professor of literature who guided them through confronting their own identities and how to answer those questions through prose and poetry. 

By the end of the workshops they had each produced their own piece of writing, which they compiled into a booklet that is available for download.