Outloud warmly invites you to a series of intimate performances and conversations, ABOUT US. Running on select Friday & Thursdays evenings throughout April, May & June, ABOUT US is 10 online readings of incredible stories, plays and books co-curated and created by the many cultural communities in Western Sydney.

Join us and the artists for a rehearsed reading and facilitated conversation afterwards, to share your own stories, thoughts and ideas around what these texts say about who we are, what we care about, how COVID has affected these communities here and abroad, and how we can support each other from here on.

You can find out about the other performances we have going on & reserve your tickets for those here: https://outloud.org.au/project...

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TODAY, TOMORROW, FOREVER

“These poems, as harrowing as they are beautiful, invite us to open our eyes while opening our hearts.”
Critically Acclaimed writer ali whitelock

This week Outloud teams up with the incredible team at Westwords to bring to you 'Today, Tomorrow, Forever', a collection of poetry from the Rohingya diaspora.

In mid 2021 the Executive Director of WestWords (a literary organisation in Great Western Sydney) was introduced to Pan Sandar Myinit a young Rohingyan woman living in Canterbury-Bankstown who was collaborating on a poetry collection with 3 young Rohingyan men living in the world’s largest refugee camps in Coxs Bazaar, Bangladesh. With WestWords support they worked with critically acclaimed poet ali whitelock to produce a powerful collection of poetry and photography to create a nuanced conversation and story of tragedy, hope resilience and the beauty of the human spirit.

"We have faced all kinds of barriers and abuses of our human rights in our relatively short lives. As we search towards self-discovery and happiness there are always going to be high and lows, heartbreaks, victories and everything in between. Sometimes the smallest few words can make all the difference. They can comfort. They can inspire.

These poems share our experiences of being a part of the Rohingya Diaspora. Creating them has helped and inspired us. We would like share them as our personal gift to you. Please read these and know that we Rohingyas are always there for you.

Stay strong, be brave, love hard and true, and you have nothing to lose."

Three of our readers will be calling through from a refugee camp in Bangladesh - this will likely effect their internet connection. Please be patient as we try and establish connections across boarders, boundaries and restrictions.

Pan Sandar Myint migrated to Australia from Myanmar in 2009. Her grandfather, Professor Habib Ullah, helped prevent the first Rohingya genocide in 1958 alongside his childhood friend Zakir Hussain. Initially working multiple jobs in retail and hospitality Pan became an Australian citizen in 2012 and now works facilitating the process of visa applications, is a co-ordinator of Women’s Affairs and Youth Empowerment with the Free Rohingya Coalition and an active advocate of her ‘brothers and sisters’ in refugee camps who don’t have citizenship rights. In 2020 Pan became the first Rohingyan Burmese woman to compete in an Australian beauty pageant, going on to become a finalist for Ms World.

WestWords is a not-for-profit charity working across Greater Western Sydney with centres in Campbelltown, Parramatta and Blacktown. They work closely with writers and artists of all ages delivering a comprehensive program of residencies, fellowships, workshops, presentations and publications.

If you are interested in purchasing this publication, you can do so here: https://westwords.com.au/rohin...

CAST

Writers:
Pan Sandar Myint
Abdullah
Yasor Arfat
AS Junike

Facilitator: Michael Campbell

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CONTENT NOTES: Themes of migration, displacement + refugee lived experiences