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Writing from Untold's Write Afghanistan Project

This collection presents writing by participants in Untold’s Write Afghanistan initiative, established to seek and develop fiction by Afghan women. The first four pieces were published in December 2020, followed by two in March 2024.

New Voices: Afghan Women Writers

A nation’s upheaval cannot be understood without women’s perspectives.

The Decision

At that moment, there was another whistling sound, followed by a huge explosion.

Translated from Pashto by Zarghuna Kargar

Khurshid Khanum, Rise and Shine

By Batool Haidari

She could not have known that the caller at the other end of the phone was about to faint.

Translated from Dari by Parwana Fayyaz

Turn this Air Conditioner On, Sir

By Maryam Mahjoba

It is one of those days when the winter sun is gorgeous, and you don’t want to even think of death.

Translated from Dari by Parwana Fayyaz

Daughter Number Eight

By Freshta Ghani

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

Translated from Pashto by Zarghuna Kargar

Ablution facility with white and gray tiles

Glogger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Gray-Winged Pigeons of the Shrine

By Batool Haidari

I had written “fifth grade” on my application for this job five years ago. But my father, who had been dead for years, hadn’t actually let me study for more than a year.

Translated from Dari by Zubair Popalzai

Close-up of cucumber plant hanging from a green fence

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

The Greenhouse

By Fatema Haidari

I could see her white hands and long, thin fingers among the green stems and huge leaves of the cucumber plants.

Translated from Dari by Shekiba Habib