Letter Exchanges
For the last five years, Letter Exchanges have paired Afghan writers from Untold’s Paranda network with German and English-language writers. As the conversations unfold, some of these intimate exchanges have been published in translation and are available to read in their original language through Untold’s collaboration with Weiter Schreiben, initiated by KfW Stiftung.
Why Letter Exchanges?
Some Paranda writers craft their letters from exile; with some women also writing from Afghanistan, navigating severe restrictions with remarkable courage. Through this epistolary exchange, the writers use this long-standing literary form that offers complexity, subtlety, and creative ambition, often during a crisis.
As we share the letters here, we invite you to consider how letter exchanges as a form of reciprocal correspondence and translation can enhance our understanding of how different formats give writers the space to talk to each other about their craft and to build relationships in the broader literary world and crucially, beyond Anglophone networks.
The Role of Translation
Too often, translation operates as a one-way street, with works moving from languages like Dari and Pashto into European languages such as English, while often remaining inaccessible to readers in their original contexts.
Writers achieve recognition in markets abroad, yet this rarely circulates back to strengthen literary ecosystems in the context in which writers are working. The result is a paradox where international success does little to build sustainable readership or publishing infrastructure where it’s needed most.
Letter Exchanges with German-Language Writers
Since January 2022, Untold has collaborated with Weiter Schreiben, supported by KfW Stiftung, to publish the Letter Exchanges between Freshta Ghani & Daniela Dröscher, Maryam Mahjube & Ilma Rakusa and Batool & Marica Bodrožić. The writers began exchanging letters in Summer 2021, before the withdrawal of the USA and its allies in mid-August. Over the course of the year, they bore witness to the dramatic changes in Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.
In September 2022 three more authors from Kabul, Herat and Balkh, a province in northern Afghanistan, began to exchange letters: Maliha Naji & Dilek Güngör, Raha Mozaffari & Elke Schmitter and Fatema Key & Svenja Leiber. Due to safety concerns, the Afghan authors are published under pseudonyms.
The letters are published in German, and available to read in the original language on Weiter Schreiben’s website.
German-Language Letter Exchanges In The Press
As part of Untold’s collaboration with Weiter Schreiben, supported by supported by KfW Stiftung, some of the above Letter Exchanges have been translated and published in the press, available to read here.
Letter Exchanges with English-Language Writers
Beyond Untold’s collaboration with Weiter Schreiben, Afghan women writers from Paranda have also been paired with English-language writers. The Letter Exchanges have been translated into English and published in Anglophone media outlets, available to read here.
