Thought-provoking conversations will take place at this year’s “Time of the Writer” festival with the introduction of the Cocktail Hour series.
The much-anticipated “Feminism and Writing: a Path to Self-Realisation and Empowerment” discussion will take place on March 18.
Author and sociologist Shafinaaz Hassim, who has been apart of the festival since 2007, chats about the festival and the talk.
What brought about your focus on feminist issues affecting women, human trafficking and GBV?
“My primary training is in sociology, and as a social scientist, my research focuses on women in society, the role we play, the structures that exist and are perpetuated that very often place women at a disadvantage, and how we seek ways to make for a more egalitarian society.
“So I have used my novels and short stories to deepen the conversation with my readers, and in an effort to shift thinking, to move beyond being victims to structure, to own our agency and create solutions for a better way forward.“
You're a part of the panel for the discussion on writing and feminism. Tell us about what this discussion is about.
“The written word has a history of being able to impact on consciousness.
“I am pleased to be able to add some thoughts to the panel on writing and feminism.
“I think that writing beyond the academy of the social sciences, presenting narratives using the vehicle of fiction, provides an opportunity for widening the scope of discussion around how to re-imagine the spaces we inhabit in society and what it means to be a woman in the 21st century.
“Writing is an important amplifier of the voice of women, for women, and it is a platform for highlighting the gaps and the shifts in how power and structures that persist against women may be challenged and the written word gives form to the politics of how spaces can be reclaimed in order to change the narrative.”
Why is it important to have discussions on such topics?
“We continue to have social issues that hold us back as a society, and in as much as we might believe that we have progressed, the subjugation of minorities, poverty, GBV and forced migrations and trafficking primarily affect women and children.
“And so for as long as those social issues exist, if these aren’t given a voice and a need for sustainable solutions and ways forward that resolve them without perpetuating further challenges further down the road, there will always be the need to address and resolve the direct and indirect impact on society.
“Discussions like these raise awareness, empower the voiceless and bring more minds and resources together towards active and sustainable solutions.
“Taken further, they might eventually affect necessary policy changes where needed. Every conversation is a form of activism in the public realm.
After years of research for your numerous books, what have been some of the biggest challenges and can we fix them?
“One finds, in addressing a particular topic like human trafficking, various layers of social challenges come into sharp focus: poverty, racial inequality, racism and xenophobia and the difficulties that women and minorities face in accessing jobs, opportunities, safety and reliable platforms where their grievances might be heard.
“As a society, we need to be better geared with the knowledge of what’s available to us as well as the responsibility to do our individual and collective bit to create sustainable change in our immediate circles of influence and beyond”.
The discussion will take place on March 18.
“Other panel members include journalist Ayesha Kajee, authors Abi Dare, Carice Anderson, Lethokuhle Msimang and Oksana Zabushko.
Sessions will be live streamed on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.