Today, Dr. Haval Abubaker, the Governor of Slemani, welcomed the local writers participating in the joint “INKubator” project between the UNESCO Cities of Literature—Slemani and Melbourne. The meeting was attended by the focal point and members of the Slemani UNESCO Creative City of Literature Office. The collective work of the project has been published as a joint short-story anthology in both Kurdish and English, supported by the Governor of Slemani.

During the meeting, discussions addressed the significance of the project and the importance of introducing Kurdish literature and writers to the world through the activities of the Slemani UNESCO Creative City of Literature Office. They also highlighted the governor’s ongoing support in showcasing and promoting Kurdish culture, literature, and art locally, across the various parts of Kurdistan, and in the diaspora.

The INKubator is a project organized by the Slemani UNESCO City of Literature Office in partnership with the Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature . It is a virtual room designed to connect writers from both cities with one another, facilitated by Australian poet and playwright Emilie Collyer and conducted in both English and Kurdish. In it, participants collaboratively explored the art of character creation and presented their respective cities to their peers as a source of inspiration for writing new texts and building new relationships.