Explore how the power of language can be used as a tool for advocacy and activism, and as a tool to do harm.
Hosted by co-convenor of Western Sydney University School of Law’s Palestine Project Dr Souheir Edelbi, this panel will consider the role of writers, artists, organisers, academics and educators at this historic time. How can we claim space for discussions about Gaza in our civic institutions, drawing on the rich literature, poetry and journalism of Palestine? How do we respond to claims that words are violent, in the face of such atrocities being live-streamed to our phones? Whose voices are being amplified and who is being silenced?
Souheir is joined by writer and human rights lawyer Sara M Saleh, Stella Prize-winning poet and co-editor of Overland literary journal Evelyn Araluen, and award-winning historian and senior research fellow in the Melbourne Law School Jordana Silverstein, for this rich and much-needed conversation.
Evelyn Araluen is a Goorie and Koori poet, researcher and co-editor of Overland literary journal. Her Stella-prize winning poetry collection Dropbear was published in 2021.
Sara M Saleh is a writer, human rights lawyer, and the daughter of Palestinian, Lebanese and Egyptian migrants based on Bidjigal land. Her first novel, Songs for the Dead and the Living, was shortlisted for the 2024 NSW Premier's Awards.
Jordana Silverstein is an award-winning historian and senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of Anxious Histories: Narrating the Holocaust in Jewish Communities at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century and Cruel Care: A History of Children at our Borders, which was shortlisted for the Victorian Premiers Literary Awards.
Dr Souheir Edelbi is a Lecturer in the School of Law at Western Sydney University (on the lands of the Darug, Eora, Dharawal and Wiradjuri nations). Before joining academia, she worked as a legal researcher and advocacy officer with human rights organisations in Palestine and Belgium.
Please note that this venue is licensed and entry is for over 18’s only.
This venue is wheelchair accessible, but please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.
Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival will have Auslan interpreters available for the Festival and will schedule them into sessions on request. Please complete the Auslan request question at checkout.
Festival Ticket Information
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