MEDIA RELEASE

Sydney Writers' Festival Events

Released 7 May 2005

Information and Cultural Exchange
PO Box 4033 Parramatta NSW 2124 Australia
T: +61(2) 9897 5744 / F: +61(2) 9897 5766

Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) is proud to be a partner in three exciting Sydney Writers’ Festival 2005 events. The Ramallah Diaries, Hip Hop Projections and First Act of Violence will bring in diverse audiences, including young people, Arabic-speaking communities, activists and refugee communities.

THE RAMALLAH DIARIES

Suad Amiry
_Thursday 26 May, 6-8pm
Parramatta Riverside Theatres
Cnr of Church and Market Streets, Parramatta
Free Entry_

International guest of the Festival, Suad Amiry whose memoir Sharon and My Mother-in-Law is a diary of living in the Occupied Territories, speaks with young Palestinian-Australian Rawan Abdul-Nabi about daily life in Ramallah, Palestine.

HIP HOP PROJECTIONS

_Saturday 28 May, 8-10pm
Bangarra Theatre
Pier 4/5 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay
$5 at the door_

Urban music artists MC Trey, DJ Nick Toth and Wire MC, three of Australia’s most prominent hip-hop virtuosos, host a night of rapping and DJ-ing infused with multimedia projections, images and words. They are joined by recent graduates from ICE’s ‘Hip Hop 101’, ‘Music with Mystro’ and ‘Yallah’ projects.

THE FIRST ACT OF VIOLENCE

_Saturday 28 May, 11:30am-1pm
Sydney Theatre Company, Richard Wherrett Studio
22 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay
Free Entry_

Writers with recent refugee experiences discuss the politics behind the question “where do you come from?”. Edison Yongai is a journalist and editor from Sierra Leone, Rukhshana Sarwar is a writer and poet from Afghanistan, Hussein Al-Hashimy is a poet from Iraq who taught himself English while detained at Woomera, Zahra is a high school student who writes about her experiences as a young refugee, and Denis Asif Sado from Sudan spent much of his life in refugee camps in Uganda. Chaired by Australian writer and community activist Paula Abood.

For full program contact:
Sydney Writers’ Festival
info-line 02 9252 7729
www.swf.org.au
info@swf.org.au

These projects are a partnership between Sydney Writers’ Festival, ICE, Parramatta Riverside Theatres, fBi radio, Parramatta Riverside Theatres and Parramatta City Council.

ICE is assisted by the NSW Government Ministry for the Arts and the Australian Manufacturers Workers Union.

Hip Hop Projections is the result of ICE projects developed with the support of South Western Sydney Institute of Tafe – Granville Outreach Program, Casino Community Benefit Fund, Australia Council for the Arts and Parramatta City Council.

The First Act of Violence draws on work developed as part of ICE’s Emerging Communities Program, with support from Australia Council for the Arts, NSW Ministry for the Arts, Fairfield and Parramatta City Councils and NSW Film and Television Office.