ZEYNEB ÎSA

Qamishlo- Writing is a great way to express your feelings on paper. Writing is also a way to pass down the experiences of people to next generations. Communities that are aware of the power of writing achieve many gains and developments.

Some communities subjected to assimilation policies and oppression use the forms of oral literature to pass down their history and stories to next generations. Kurdish people have an incredibly rich and diverse oral literature aiming to pass down their history to the next generations through dengbêj (Kurdish storytelling), Kurdish poems, lullabies and stories. Today, Kurdish young people aim to preserve Kurdish oral literature and improve themselves in writing literary works.

Fatîma Xelîl, a student at the Rojava University in Qamishlo, is one of these young people. She has been writing Kurdish stories and poems and publishing them on social media platforms for five years.

‘My aim is to write a book based on true stories’

The journey of Fatîma Xelîl started in 2019 by writing the stories of women. “When I first started writing something, I faced many difficulties because I did not know anything about Kurdish grammar. I learned Kurdish grammar and started writing poems and stories. I publish my poems and stories on Instagram and people like them. My aim is to write a book based on true stories now. My family and friends always support me. You always succeed when your family supports you.”

‘Reading books improves your knowledge and educates you’

Fatîma Xelîl pointed to the importance of reading books to write poems and stories. “Reading books enhances my imagination. I always want to read books because reading books improves your knowledge and educates you. When you read a book, you learn about different cultures and understand what happens in the world. Reading books is the most important thing in our life. In the future, I want to write a book based on true stories and become a well-known author and poet.”