Pashtana Zalmai Khan Dorani

Executive Director @LEARNAfg, winner of @tallberg Award,@Malalafund #Champion ,visiting fellow @wellesley, #educator

We may earn commissions for purchases made via this page

Book Recommendations:

@Ashrafakbaba 😂 cousin this book is by amazing Afghan fiction writers. I was part of translation team. But yes anyone who is interested in reading something real, something from heart of Afghan women. I think this book will do them justice. Personal story recommendations Ajah and Sandals. (from X)

A landmark collection: the first anthology of short fiction by Afghan women that are "powerful, profound, and deeply moving" (Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees, a Reese's Book Club pick) "My pen is the wing of a bird; it will tell you those thoughts we are not allowed to think, those dreams we are not allowed to dream." Eighteen Afghan women living in, speaking about, and writing from the country itself tell stories that are powerful and illuminating, unique and universal - stories of family, work, childhood, friendship, war, gender identity, and cultural traditions. A woman's fortitude saves her village from disaster. A  teenager explores their identity in a moment of quiet.  A  tormented girl tries to find love through a horrific act. A headmaster makes his way to work, treading the fine line between life and death. These and more original, vital, and unexpected stories hail from extraordinary voices rooted in Afghanistan's two main linguistic groups (Pashto and Dari), and were developed over two years through the writer development program Untold's Write Aghanistan Project.  My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird comes at a pivotal moment in Afghanistan's history, when these voices must be heard. With an Introduction by Lyse Doucet, BBC chief international correspondant, and afterword by Lucy Hannah, Founder and Director of Untold