5 years of rawanee (events - publications - podcasts open call) - scroll down
mehfilversary - open call: 5 years of creative authenticity
Bunyād-Safar-Rūḥ - بنیاد • سفر • روح — Foundation • Journey • Soul
This year, Rawanee celebrates five years of creative authenticity with بُنیاد • سفر • رُوح — Bunyād • Safar • Rūḥ (Foundation • Journey • Soul): a season of events, publications, and podcasts honouring the voices, stories, and languages, that have and continue to shape our community.
The anthology open call extends and expands our earlier initiative Watan ki Mitti. Roots remain central - and now they sit alongside other global majority journeys - whether these be stories of migration and refuge, identity, spirit and the soul, or personal and psychological journeys.
All submissions will undergo anonymous editorial review.
Our editorial, curatorial, and leadership teams are aligned in their commitment to excellence, authenticity, and diversity, supporting creative work that is thoughtful, honest, and grounded in lived experience. For previous publications - please visit: Rawanee.com/publications
For open call details and guidelines & details of our editorial team - please scroll below.
You may submit your work at Rawanee.submit@gmail.com
Who We Are
Our Editorial Team
Project curators
Dr Alia Amir & Muniba Mahmud
Editorial team - English - Dr Qudsia Akhtar, Hana Ormara
Editorial team - Urdu - Dr Alia Amir, Nuzhat Nisar, Maliha Haider
Support team - Emaan Faiz (Project Assistant) and Laiba Khan
Team Bios: SECTION: Editorial team - Rawanee Safhay 2025-26
editorial team - rawanee safhay 2025-26
DR ALIA AMIR
DR QUDSIA AKHTAR
MUNIBA MAHMUD
CURATORIAL CO-LEAD &
EDITORIAL TEAM - URDU
Dr Alia Amir is a Research Associate at SOAS University of London, formerly Associate Professor of English Linguistics at Swedish universities.
Her research examines language policy, multilingualism, history, and social interaction. She is Book Review Editor for Discourse Communication (SAGE) and c
CURATORIAL CO-LEAD &
EDITORIAL TEAM - URDU
Dr Alia Amir is a Research Associate at SOAS University of London, formerly Associate Professor of English Linguistics at Swedish universities.
Her research examines language policy, multilingualism, history, and social interaction. She is Book Review Editor for Discourse Communication (SAGE) and co-editor of SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics, Volume 23.
MUNIBA MAHMUD
DR QUDSIA AKHTAR
MUNIBA MAHMUD
CURATORIAL CO-LEAD
Muniba Mahmud is Chief Chai-Brewer at Rawanee, with over five years of creative collaborations spanning publications, events, a podcast, and a poetic play.
A writer, poet, performer, and curator, her work explores identity, spirituality, and social justice.
Fueled by big migrant-and-humanity feelings, she works to make the arts more accessible, authentic, and representative.
DR QUDSIA AKHTAR
DR QUDSIA AKHTAR
DR QUDSIA AKHTAR
EDITORIAL TEAM - ENGLISH
Qudsia Akhtar is a widely appreciated Manchester-based poet and creative curator. Her poetry has appeared in Acumen, Tupelo Quarterly, Poetry London, and Wildness. Her debut collection Khamoshi (Verve Poetry Press, 2022) was highly commended by the Forward prize panel and a poem appeared in The Forward Book of Poet
EDITORIAL TEAM - ENGLISH
Qudsia Akhtar is a widely appreciated Manchester-based poet and creative curator. Her poetry has appeared in Acumen, Tupelo Quarterly, Poetry London, and Wildness. Her debut collection Khamoshi (Verve Poetry Press, 2022) was highly commended by the Forward prize panel and a poem appeared in The Forward Book of Poetry 2023. Qudsia recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Salford where she is an associate lecturer.
HANA ORMARA
MALIHA HAIDER
DR QUDSIA AKHTAR
EDITORIAL TEAM - ENGLISH
Poet and visual artist exploring ancestry, time, and the languages of the land &
tracing ancestral roots in Balochistan,
Her new pamphlet Godhuma: The Breathing of the Earth (Intergraphia Press, 2025) is dedicated to the ancient people of Mehrgarh, connecting Baloch heritage, art, and poetry as living archive.
Hana is
EDITORIAL TEAM - ENGLISH
Poet and visual artist exploring ancestry, time, and the languages of the land &
tracing ancestral roots in Balochistan,
Her new pamphlet Godhuma: The Breathing of the Earth (Intergraphia Press, 2025) is dedicated to the ancient people of Mehrgarh, connecting Baloch heritage, art, and poetry as living archive.
Hana is one of the co-writers of Rawanee’s poetic play on migrations, When We Arrive.
NUZHAT NISAR
MALIHA HAIDER
MALIHA HAIDER
EDITORIAL TEAM - URDU
Nuzhat Nisar is a Karachi-based Urdu translator, editor, and writer committed to expanding Urdu through literary translation.
Her forthcoming books include translations of short stories by Sabahattin Ali and the Urdu edition of Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal. Her work appears in Lakeer Mag, Akhbar-e-Jehan, and Ananke.
MALIHA HAIDER
MALIHA HAIDER
MALIHA HAIDER
EDITORIAL TEAM - URDU
Maliha Haider is a London-based bilingual poet, translator and creative producer.
She is founder Hearspoken Word - an intimate spoken word, poetry, and open mic night in London and, Trustee, Kali Theatre, which produces and supports new theatre by women writers of South Asian descent.