The 2020 Local Woman of the Year for Bankstown is a face of advocacy in the community, pushing for legal reform on issues from homicide sentencing procedures, to paid parental leave for pregnant women affected by violence.
Ms Haydar, who turned to expressing herself through writing as a form of therapy, with multiple works featuring in ABC News Online, SBS Voices, Arab Australian Other and Sweatshop Women, will have her 2021 memoir ‘The Mother Wound’ showcased alongside the works of 16 other Muslim-Australian writers at the Sydney Muslim Writers Festival.
“In my memoir, I tell the story of my own trauma and the personal and political dimensions of domestic violence,” Haydar said.
“It can be really politically empowering, hearing stories from peoples’ own lived experiences.”
The Sydney Muslim Writers Festival will take place on Saturday, February 12, 9.30am-6pm, at the Bryan Brown Theatre in Bankstown.
Writers featured in the festival will take part in a panel discussion to exchange ideas between panellists and the audience. Audience members will have the opportunity to engage, learn and ask questions from the writers.
Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour says the festival provides a space for Muslim writers and thinkers to discuss and share their experiences.
“Canterbury Bankstown is home to many Muslims from diverse cultural backgrounds, and I’m so proud to have the festival take place in our City,” he said.
Haydar said it was promising to see an event, as big as the Sydney Muslim Writers Festival, showcasing such a diverse group of Muslim writers.
To register, visit cb.city/SMWF2022
