History
“A good poem restores our sight and our hearing.” – Charles Simic
The vision for this programme began at an extraordinary level. When an academic instructor at Birzeit University saw immense potential in students in the field of imagination and creativity, she was determined to embark on a special project that would provide creative students with a unique opportunity.
The founder was inspired by the work of the Palestine Festival of Literature in 2009, when PalFest visited Birzeit and gave 6 workshops on various topics for students. The creative writing workshop saw three times as many students as any other workshop, evidencing the desire of students to learn techniques for expressing themselves through new modes.
With guidance from the Birzeit Department of English Language and Literature and the Center for Continuing Education, the vision grew, to build and sustain a community for emerging writers. To realize the vision, we had to expand the workshops, and structure them into a comprehensive programme that could fully support the growing vision. Thus, the Palestine Writing Workshop was created ,and with the willingness of PalFest participant and South African writer Rachel Holmes, the Workshop launched its first writer in residence workshop. Almost immediately, the programme drew overwhelming interest, and began to develop young potential and merited diverse support. Thanks to the Palestine Festival of Literature and the British Council in particular, the Workshop has been able to build its foundation.
A place like Palestine needs a programme like the Writing Workshop for multiple reasons; primarily to support a professional and creative attitude towards writing, to give emerging writers the tools to fully express their imagination, and to work on cultivating a voice for each writer. Writing is the most vital form of thought, and the most honest transcriber of history, and when perfected, these emerging writers will create their future without looking through the ashes.
