VIRTUAL AUSTRALIAN MUSLIM WRITERS FESTIVAL

The Right Pen Collective (TRPC) is a newly created network founded by author Özge Alkan (Vic) and emerging writers Aksen Ilhan (Vic) and Annie McCann (NSW) to connect, support and empower Australian Muslim Writers and Creators in an effort to see amazing talent published in Australia as commonly as we see Vegemite on our supermarket shelves.

This year, TRPC presents their first ever virtual festival via zoom to officially launch the network and showcase some amazing Australian Muslim writers and creators.

The TRPC Virtual Muslim Writers Festival 

When and Where

Taking place 25 September – 2 October 2021. Bookings are essential to attend these amazing conversations so grab your tickets to this awesome FREE event through @therightpencollective  and join TRPC as they showcase some amazing talent by Australian Muslim Writers and Creators!!!

The Program

The festival opens with Australian Muslim author Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah a Palestinian Egyptian Muslim writer, academic, anti-racism and Palestine advocate, former lawyer and mother of four. Not to mention the award-winning author of eleven novels published in over 20 countries exploring themes such as race, human rights, multiculturalism, and identity in popular culture.

Randa is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Sociology at Macquarie University researching the generational impact of the war on terror on Muslim and non-Muslim youth. Her latest book is Coming of Age in the War on Terror.

Join the TRPC virtual Festival as they explore Muslim Poets, kids’ literature, picture books, junior fiction, and YA with Australian Muslim authors.

Plus, conversations with:

• International guest authors Ausma Zenahat Khan and Uzma Jalaluddin. Uzma Jalaluddin’s novel Hana Khan Carries On’ has been optioned for a movie by Amazon and Mindy Kaling.
• Founding director of Sweatshop Literary Movement Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmad.
• Author of The Mother Wound, Amani Haydar.

And closing with special guest Waleed Aly.

Click the “Book Now link” below for greater insight into each of the sessions and book your virtual tickets asap.

Festival partners are Better Read Than Dead Bookshop and Print on Collins

The Right Pen Collective Co-Founders

Özge Sevindik Alkan was born in Turkey, grew up in America and lives in Australia. She holds an honours degree in Journalism and a Master of Information studies. She is the co-author of children’s book Hijabi Girl. Özge is working on the sequels for Hijabi Girl in between running after her two young children and volunteering for the community organisation Big Group Hug. Find her on Instagram @ozgesevalk

Aksen Ilhan (Vic) has over 18 years experiences as a coordinator and facilitator, teaching the English language in native and ESL, tertiary and high school settings and, community leadership.

Annie McCann was born in the Western suburbs of Sydney to an Indonesian mother and Australian father. She is a blogger, emerging writer, emcee, and founder of Read3r’z Re-Vu: Network of Readers. Annie is one of the winners of the Penguin Random House Write It! Fellowship 2019 and is working on her first own voices, middle grade novel that pays homage to her West Javanese, Indonesian culture, and ancestry.

Australia Reads

Four members of TRPC: Özge Sevindik Alkan, Melati Lum, Inda Ahmad Zahri and Annie McCann were selected as ambassadors for this year’s Australia Reads and have taken the initiative to host a pre-recorded virtual panel to discuss all things reading and what Muslim representation in books means to them.

This panel is a great prelude to the Virtual Australian Muslim Writer’s Festival and has us wanting more…can’t wait to learn more.

So many books for students to explore, so many authors to discover. A celebration of stories and authors from the Australian Muslim community.