Writing & Society Research Centre, Room To Listen online seminar series

Yumna Kassab’s recent collection of stories and soliloquies The House of Youssef has met with critical acclaim. Raaza Butt’s short stories have been published in prominent magazines. Both authors have been shortlisted for awards. Here they discuss the range and possibilities of the form, the traditions they draw on, the writers who have influenced them, and the strengths of the short story in exploring issues of identity, migration and displacement.

YUMNA KASSAB Kassab is a writer from Western Sydney. Her first book, The House of Youssef, has been listed for The Stella Prize, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, Queensland Literary Awards, the Glenda Adams UTS New Writing Award and the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Her writing has appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald, Kill Your Darlings and Meanjin. She studied medical science at Macquarie University and neuroscience at The University of Sydney. She currently teaches in regional NSW.

RAAZA JAMSHED BUTT is a writer drawn to the poetics of gender, language, and identity. She is a Doctor of Creative Arts candidate at Western Sydney University; she holds a Master by Research degree in Literature and Creative Writing from the same university. Her recent short stories have been published in Meanjin and Australian Book Review. Her short story, Miracle Windows, was placed second in the 2019 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. Raaza is on the editorial board for Overland and volunteers as a story teller with public school students from migrant backgrounds in Western Sydney.

RSVP to: Suzanne Gapps, S.Gapps@westernsydney.edu.au and you will be sent the Zoom link. All welcome.