What is your first thought when you hear the word "Syria"?
War? Bombs? Refugees?
We would like to change that! Because Syria and especially its people have much more to offer: love stories, stories about courage, about friendship - also, of course, about war and destruction, but not exclusively. The stories that matter to young Syrians are often not much different from those elsewhere.
With our writing contest Words of Hope we would like to give young writers from Syria and Germany the chance to share their stories with us and show how diverse they can be.
And here's what we are planning:
For three months young people can send us their texts in Arabic or German. We have them translated and present them to a Syrian-German jury, which chooses their favourites. Those are honoured at an award ceremony and published in a bilingual anthology.
And off we go: With the anthology and the writers we tour through Germany and present the texts. The writers in Syria have the chance to participate via Skype and share their stories personally with us.