Poet, Writer, Translator Ethiopia Christine Yohannes is an Ethiopian poet and writer and she describes herself “most of all a human being who is a strong believer in love”. A 2016 resident of the International Writing Program for international artists in Iowa, she is Ethiopia’s only female representative out of 5 since the program started in 1967. Christine has changed countries, continents, jobs, and appellations constantly. In her own words “fearless and adventurous, she has thrived in everything she has set her mind to with unshaken support of admirable African women”. She desires to do the same for the women around her and for future generations. Christine Yohannes writes about social change, performs at public events and conducts poetry workshops in schools. She has established a monthly event entitled “Poetic Saturdays” - a platform created to allow everyone the freedom of self-expression through art. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Poet Turkey Narîn Yukler was born in the Southeast of Turkey near Sanliurfa. She graduated from the Tourism and Hotel Management School of Gaziantep University and from the Faculty of Business Administration of Anadolu University. After graduation, she started to work as a hotel manager. She was involved in the activities of various non-governmental and human rights organizations, especially women’s rights organizations. In 2011, she was sued for supporting a press statement of Sanliurfa Human Rights Association. In 2014 she was sentenced to 10,5 years of imprisonment and that’s why she had to quit her work as hotel manager and flee to the city of Duhok in the Autonomous Kurdistan Region (Iraq) with her husband and her 40-day-old newborn. Many of her stories and poems written about Middle Eastern women, especially Kurdish, were published in newspapers and magazines in Iraq, Belgium, Pakistan, Iran, USA , Korea, India, Bulgaria, Dubai and Turkey. She has published two books with the titles Aynadaki Çürüme (in Turkish) and Rê û Rêç (in Kurdish). She has written theatrical plays on human and women’s rights, some of which were staged. She holds meetings in refugee camps where she reads her poems written in Kurdish and Turkish languages. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Poet, human rights activist, essayist, journalist Hong Kong Tang Siu Wa is a poet, writer, cultural critic, essayist, journalist, and curator based in Hong Kong. She is the author of poetry collections, volumes of prose writing, and a collection of interviews. She is one of the founding editors of the literary magazine Fleurs des Lettres, and now acts as chief editor of several Hong Kong literature magazines. Tang is currently Chief Curator of the House of Hong Kong Literature and the conveyor of the House’s board. Tang’s recent curatorial work focuses on creating cross-disciplinary dialogue between literature and other artistic disciplines. As literary organizer and human rights activist she teaches creative writing at various Hong Kong institutions and contributes columns and criticism to a variety of local media. Tang has acted as a human rights activist for more than 10 years, she was accused of riot in 2019 (charge dropped already) and hit by a teargas bullet just beside her left eye in 2020. Siu Wa wrote her poem on a day when she thought about empathizing with the pain of people we don't know after seeing demonstrators attacked by police during a demonstration. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Poet, editor Istanbul Karin Karakaşlı, born in Istanbul, is a poet, writer, journalist and a human rights activist. For many years she has worked for the well-known Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos, which plays a very important role in the printed press in Turkey. She has published numerous short stories, novels, poems, children’s books, youth novels, and essays. She is also co-author of the study “Armenians in Turkey: Community, Individual, Citizen”. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Presented by: Anthi Karra Crete Born in 1955 and raised in Iraklion (Crete), in a refugee family originated from the Smyrna region of Anatolia, she studied law and slavistics in Paris, specialized in International Public Law. But… she worked for 35 years as a linguist in the Greek Translation Section of the Council of the European Union in Brussels. Passionate about the history and the culture of the late ottoman world, she translated the last 30 years numerous Turkish literary texts to Greek, and has dedicated herself, since her retirement, to the study of the cultural contacts existing between these two languages, especially the last 100 years of their « national » existence. Translated by: Lee Cockshott studied Contemporary Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has since been involved in numerous artistic and social projects, including the realization of a Chinese-English bilingual theater piece at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a music therapy project in Croatia for war traumatized people, and for the past three years with the association 'Trimum', whose goal is to build bridges between generations, cultures and religious communities through the common language of music. Her artistic focus is on singing, spoken word performance and using the arts to connect people who would otherwise have nothing to do with each other. She hopes to continue to support valuable and exciting dialogues with her craft. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Poet, filmmaker, performance artist Tuğçe Aydın is a filmmaker and performance artist. She completed her B.Sc. in Biology at the Middle East Technical University. She got a master’s degree in Cinema Television from Kadir Has University. She has been creatively inspired by documentary filmmaking and performance art where she questions notions of encounters, experience in art & life, empathy & harmony between people, cultures and their stories. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Poet, researcher on transnational adoption system, nationalism and racism South Korea/Denmark. Maja Lee Langvad was born 1980 in South Korea, and grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a writer and translator. Her books explore themes such as transnational adoption, national identity, racism, kinship, food, illness and the act of writing. Maja has been an influential voice in debates on transnational adoption. In her book She is Angry Langvad’s subjective history is broadened and the trauma she experienced on her own skin – literally, as eczema – is put into the context of the transnational adoption system, which the poet has also criticized in debates. She has translated Fragebogen (Questionnaires) by the Swiss author Max Frisch into Danish. Together with her colleague Kristina Nya Glaffey she has translated Baby Precious Always Shines by the American author Gertrude Stein and her partner Alice B. Toklas. She is the co-editor of the Nordic literary journal Kritiker. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Poet, feminist activist, associate professor at the Department of Russian as a foreign language at UrFU, Philology Yekaterinburg Egana Dzhabbarova lives in Yekaterinburg, she is a poet who has published numerous poetry books. She publishes in printed and online magazines in Russia and Ukraine. Her poems have been translated into English, Polish and Italian and published in several international anthologies. Egana is particularly interested in topics such as decolonial writing. She won New Youth magazine's Poetic Debut Award in 2016. At the moment she is an associate professor at the Ural State University, Department of Russian as a foreign language. Egana Dzhabbarova wrote this poem written for three sisters – the Kachaturian sisters - who received a prison sentence for killing their father who had abused them sexually since their childhood. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Gender non-conforming writer, performer, mixed-media artist Alok Vaid Menon is an internationally acclaimed gender non-conforming writer, performer and public speaker. As a mixed-media artist Alok uses poetry, comedy, sound-art, fashion design to explore themes of gender, race, trauma, belonging and the human condition. Their artistry responds to violence against trans and gender non-conforming people, calling for freedom from constraining gender norms. They advocate for bodily diversity, gender neutrality, and self-determination. Alok attended Stanford University where they graduated with a BA in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies and comparative studies in race and ethnicity, as well as a masters in sociology in 2013. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan

Presented by: Anthi Karra Crete Born in 1955 and raised in Iraklion (Crete), in a refugee family originated from the Smyrna region of Anatolia, she studied law and slavistics in Paris, specialized in International Public Law. But… she worked for 35 years as a linguist in the Greek Translation Section of the Council of the European Union in Brussels. Passionate about the history and the culture of the late ottoman world, she translated the last 30 years numerous Turkish literary texts to Greek, and has dedicated herself, since her retirement, to the study of the cultural contacts existing between these two languages, especially the last 100 years of their « national » existence. Translated by: Lee Cockshott studied Contemporary Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has since been involved in numerous artistic and social projects, including the realization of a Chinese-English bilingual theater piece at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, a music therapy project in Croatia for war traumatized people, and for the past three years with the association 'Trimum', whose goal is to build bridges between generations, cultures and religious communities through the common language of music. Her artistic focus is on singing, spoken word performance and using the arts to connect people who would otherwise have nothing to do with each other. She hopes to continue to support valuable and exciting dialogues with her craft. Excerpt from the Conference Series Part 8: „Searching for Kassia – Protest Poems Yesterday and Today” – a (virtual) meeting with Chinese, Georgian, Russian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Kurdish, South Korean/Danish and Turkish women poets Host: Istanbul Gender Museum and kainkollektiv Moderation: Aylin Vartanyan