Every year since 2005, POWA has brought women together to write poems, stories, and essays that tell of their experiences of abuse and how they triumphed over it, which are collected in the Breaking the Silence anthologies. The writing featured in the series highlights women’s internal struggles, rape, domestic abuse, alcoholism, unemployment, hope, releasing hurt and so much more.
The aim of the POWA Women’s Writing Project is to create a therapeutical and, above all, safe space for women to break the silence on the different forms of abuse they have experienced. It gives women the opportunity to reflect on their lived realities and in the process, positively shape their landscape and influence the thinking and decisions of other women in similar circumstances.
The Women’s Writing Project encourages women, through writing, to rid themselves of the shackles of silence, which is often how their abuse is perpetuated. Due to it giving women a platform to speak out about abuse, the Breaking the Silence Anthology 2021/2022 (Unroped) is a programme of the #EndDomesticSilence initiative. Launched in 2019, the initiative is being run by Unilever tea brand, Joko, in partnership with POWA and aims to encourage women to end the silence around domestic violence and increase the speaking out, reporting of, awareness, and education around domestic violence.
POWA and Joko are calling for submissions for the Breaking the Silence Anthology 2021/2022, entitled Unroped, which is open to women across South Africa. This year, they are seeking poems, short stories, and personal essays that tell of your experience of rising and letting go of past pains and hurts. That is the process of moving on and finding one’s rightful place. They are looking for entries that envision and dream of a future imagined and defined by you. Writing your own story is a brave, sometimes difficult thing to do. We all have a responsibility to respect and acknowledge bravery, in ourselves and each other.
Each submission will be treated with confidentiality and respect, and once received will be handed to an Editorial Committee who will determine if it will be published in Unroped.
“The Women’s Writing Project gives women the opportunity to express their innermost thoughts and feelings, which facilitates their healing journey,” says POWA Chief Social Worker, Joan Hlako, who is managing the project. “For some, it is an opportunity to tell their story for the first time, and an important part of the healing process.”
Writing is indeed an effective way to promote healing. As author, Ellen Bass, has said: “So often survivors of abuse have had their experiences denied, trivialized, or distorted. Writing is an important avenue for healing because it gives you the opportunity to define your own reality.”
Some have achieved their life-long dream of becoming published writers through the project, while others have been identified to perform their poems on many platforms, including international conferences.
For more information on the Women’s Writing Project, visit: www.powa.co.za. If you have any enquiries, you can email Joan Hlako at joan@powa.co.za or Patricia Naha at patricia@powa.co.za. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2022.
