Join us for an intimate conversation with Sabia Rasool, author and winner of the 2025 international Human Rights Essay Prize, as she presents her award-winning essay “The Blind Side”. Guiding the conversation is Kim Huynh, ANU academic, author and broadcaster, as we learn from Sabia's experience of living in fear, oppression and political censorship and her bravery to continue to choose to sing and share truthfully.

Sabia Rasool is a writer, editor, and researcher from Kashmir. Her work explores the intersections of memory, visibility, and state violence, often through personal narrative, oral histories, and cultural critique. She is interested in how people resist erasure through music, language, and everyday joy. Sabia has worked across creative media and is currently focused on curating interdisciplinary narratives from Kashmir. She believes storytelling can be both an archive and an act of refusal.

We will also be joined by talented poet & ANU psychology student Ananya V Banerjee who has written prose inspired by Rasool's work, and advocates for women’s rights, mental health, environmental preservation, and education for all.

This In Conversation event is hosted by the ANU McCusker Institute in collaboration with Portside Review.

McCusker Institute is committed to fostering a vibrant transdisciplinary community that connects, engages and inspires community-minded leaders to address complex societal issues.

Portside Review is a literary journal from the Indian Ocean published by Centre for Stories, dedicated to diverse voices, thoughtful storytelling, and writing that engages deeply with questions of justice.

Additional information:

Accessible parking spaces are available around campus should you require them.

To help keep everyone safe, please ensure that you are familiar with, and follow, the advice from ACT Health regarding COVID-19. If you do not feel well, please refrain from attending this event.

By registering for this event, you are accepting our privacy policy.

TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002 (Australian University) | CRICOS Provider Code: 00120C