After diving headfirst into the Olympiad culture and sponsoring numerous talent hunting competitions in the span of just a few months, Daastan started attracting the attention of the big names in the community and getting invited not just to help groom the talent, but also share our experience and inspire those who might want to walk down the same path. And so, with this, we zeroed in on providing sponsorship, technical and media related support, and marketing to the literature exclusive festivals and happenings across Pakistan. The team would then help those interested find their way to their first self-published works through Qissa, empowering them to monetize their hobby and – if they chose so – to make a career out of it.
A Seminar on Feminism:
The first of such events was a seminar titled “Feminism in Language, Literature and Marketplace”, organized on Women’s Day, where Daastan’s founder, Mr. Syed Ommer Ammer, was invited as a guest speaker. Ommer shared the success stories of Ms. Laiba Sehrish Nawaz – the youngest published author of Peshawar, Ms. Lareb Soomro – the youngest published author or Sindh and Ms. Faiza Kayani a police commando who defied all odds to chase her dream and published her first book through Qissa. He also spoke about how Daastan was enabling women voice their opinions through their stories, and also gain financial independence by training them to generate revenue from their writings and connecting them to resources which can help them do so.
NUST and LUMS Literary Fests:
Just a couple weeks after that, we sponsored not only the National Literary Festival by NUST in Islamabad, but also one of the biggest campus based literary festivals in all of Pakistan, i.e. the LUMS Literary Festival 2018. Through Daastan, the literary festivals received judges to adjudicate all their competitions, discounts on all books published on Qissa, the chance to talk to our team and learn more about utilizing digital tools to help them carve their out their niche in the industry. Not only this, the winners of the LUMS Literary Festival received wild card entries to the finalists of the on-going season of ‘The Stories Untold’, through which the authors would all go into print for free through Daastan.
Founder Daastan, Mr. Syed Ommer Amer speaking to the crowd at LUMS Literary Fest
If you want us to sponsor you event, or provide support, send us an email at merasawal@daastan.com.
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Daastan may have started small, but in no way was it destined to remain that way as the years rolled by. When the team started out, one of their primary missions was to help train raw talent from across the whole country and maybe even beyond, and enable them in setting up their literary ventures through the Qissa portal – or help them polish their skills to perfection, making them industry-fit and ready for hiring. We at Daastan, have always felt it as one of our responsibilities to reach out and give opportunities to anyone who has even a smidge of talent, along with a ton of passion.
Sponsoring the EME Olympiad:
It was to uphold this very ideal that Daastan jumped forward at the mention of giving support to the first competition which reached out to them i.e. the EME Olympiad. A delegation from team Daastan consisting of Ms. Sidra Amin, Co-Founder, and Ms. Mahnoor Naseer, Editor-In-Chief were invited to judge the Speed Writing as well as the Poetry Slam competition. The two exceptionally talented ladies were honored to have been given the opportunity to witness such exceptional work by some of the participants. The delegation also consisted of Ms. Syeda Aleena Bukhari, a Literary Fellow graduate and a part of Urdu Editorial Board at Daastan, who was there to judge and score the participants enrolled in Urdu based literary competitions. Daastan provided a sponsorship of almost 50,000 PKR to EME Olympiad, along with social media support.
Daastan joins hands with EME Olympiad
PIEAS National Olympiad x Daastan:
A month later, we had the opportunity to collaborate with and provide funding to the PIEAS National Olympiad. One of the biggest Olympiads being held in the twin cities, with participation from more than 30 Universities from all over Pakistan. The team of Daastan saw more than 800 participants competiting each other and showcasing their skills. Their literary modules were judged by a delegation of Daastan, consisting of Ms. Areesh Fatmee, Director PR Daastan, Ms. Syeda Aleena Bukhari, Urdu Editor Daastan, and Ms. Aaina Batool, published author at Qissa. Daastan also offered print publishing to the winners, along with marketing on social media to provide additional support to the event.
Ms. Syeda Aleena Bukhari (left) and Ms. Aaina Batool with Team PiON.
The IST Youth Carnival:
In the same week as the PIEAS National Olympiad, Daastan also collaborated with the IST Youth Carnival. Our published author Ms. Iqra Saeed set up a stall there and spread awareness on the literary industry and self-publishing scenario in Pakistan, and Daastan also provided judges to adjudicate the short story competition.
Daastan’s stall set up by Ms. Iqra Saeed at IST Youth Carnival
If you are organizing an Olympiad or Carnival at your University and require sponsorship, drop us an email at merasawal@daastan.com.
Pakistani Lady Bloggers was a woman only platform that started its journey as a Facebook group, and went on to become a huge platform that launched its very own website and became known and celebrated by a lot of people across the country. The concept behind it was a fairly simple but still a profound one; the administrators wanted to develop a place where the ladies of Pakistan who wanted to join in the blogging world could take real time advice from veterans of the field who were also female. It provided a professional safe space for women to collaborate, seek advice, and learn the foundations of building and running your blog. The group also had a website of its own that shed light on how to build a proper platform online, to gain views and create content, and also ways to monetize their work.
Daastan’s Role in Women Empowerment:
Daastan has always been a huge believer in giving opportunities to the fifty percent of Pakistan that is usually left behind. From the core team that handles operations at Qissa and Daastan, to the writers who join us to get their work published, the founder and co-founders have always encouraged female presence in their workspace and have, at times, gone out of their way to ensure that the environment at Daastan is comfortable enough for anyone who might be willing to work there. Along with this, Daastan has always prided itself in the fact that multitudes of stay at home females have found Qissa to be the best forum to publicize their work and also generate revenue from it. To join our community, all you need to do is sign up and make a profile on Qissa.
Our friends at PLB hosted a spectacular event in Lahore, and was also joined by Ms. Qudsia Jamali who is our team member.
Daastan x Pakistan Lady Bloggers:
It was for reasons such as the ones mentioned that Daastan joined hand with PLB, as their community decided to shift their profiles to Qissa to further better their availability of opportunities, and enhance their visibility. It was an honor for Daastan to be chosen as the space that would enable hundreds of women to build their own empire.
The Pakistani Woman is proud to announce its collaboration with Daastan in empowering Pakistani female bloggers and writers of all ages and all backgrounds. TPW hosts a Facebook community dedicated to the cause of bringing together female writers of the country in way that helps them excel and learn from each other. If you are a Pakistani female blogger/writer, and looking to join our thriving community, send us a join request at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pakistaniladybloggers/Signing up for MeraQissa account is a MANDATORY step if you want to avail what PLB-Daastan has in store for you, some of which are:- better writing opportunities- better recognition of your skills on a larger scale- professional help in publishing your own book- fellowship programs to groom your literary skills- chance to attend literary events- freelance writing opportunities** strictly a women-only group
With the launch of Season 4 of Daastan’s Stories Untold, Outcast Magazine, a South Asian queer-lit magazine founded by a Literary Fellow of Daastan, decided to hold an extension of the story writing competition to generate content and encourage stories in its own niche. Outcast Magazine worked to bring to light the presence of the LGBTQ+ community in the region of South Asia, and had had the honor of being endorsed by multiple internationally acclaimed platforms such as The CommonWealth Writers.
The Stories Untold Season 4x, conducted by Outcast Magazine
The Motive for Conducting the Competition:
We, at Daastan, recognized that abuse was an issue that transcended gender, religion, social, and traditional bounds, and so had its roots present in all kinds of society everywhere around the globe. Through this, both the team of Daastan and Outcast wanted to encourage stories of abuse to come forth from the LGBTQ community. The people who identified as any of these have, more often than not, been ostracized enough, and are at the brunt of many incidents of abuse that are enforced upon them as a way of punishment. The social stigma attached to such cases is even higher than the one attached to cases of child abuse, with people choosing to hush it up rather than talk about it so that the wrongdoers can be held responsible.
Your Response:
The magazine encouraged its writers to challenge the norms and break through the socially imposed boundary of remaining silent in the face of such evil, by raising their voice and penning down thoughtful, and inspiring work, between the word limit of 4000-6000. The competition received numerous entries from across the globe, and was a huge success. Being powered by Daastan, the finalists selected would be published in a print anthology, and the authors would receive a free copy of the published work. Along with this, they would also be awarded with a certificate and their names displayed on both the website as well as the Facebook page to help them gain publicity for their work.
[Short Story Contest Results]The wait has been long but it's finally over. We present to you the winner!Congratulations to Barnali Ray Shukla on winning the contest with her brilliant short story titled A Wedding Song.And congratulations to all the finalists on being a part of our upcoming anthology.All the stories were an absolute pleasure to read and we can't wait to share them. You'll be able to place orders for the print edition in the coming week so keep your eyes on our posts. P.S. 10 points to anyone who can guess the title of the anthology :)#OutcastMagazine #queerlit #VoicesUnveiled
Exactly a month after the chain of events, titled “Literary Evenings” by Words and Metaphors, was kick started in the city of Peshawar, the team of Daastan traveled all the way to Karachi to hold the second one in its succession. The first event had turned out to be a huge hit, with a crowd turnout that amazed even the most hopeful among us. The poetry and performances we got to see in the event were of such good quality that weeks after the audience would find themselves thinking about the cozy environment in which all of the literary geeks felt connected as if they were a family.
The Event:
Literary Evenings Volume Two was split into two events held at separate venues so as to celebrate each one according to its needs. The first event was the book launch of Daastan’s youngest published writer from Sindh, Lareb Soomro. The 15-year-old girl from Larkana wrote her very first novel “The Secret of Spring”, and finding no avenue to bring her work to the public, turned to what would become her enabling family – Daastan. Within a few months of her sharing her novel with the team, it was proofread, edited to its best version, and then sent to print. It was such a pleasure for Daastan to have empowered such a young but a creative and budding mind. Lareb’s book launch was held in Nizamani Labour Hall where students from different colleges, writers and people with an appreciation of literature graced the event. Her launch received extensive media coverage. The news report of the event and her interviews were featured on Samaa news, Sach Tv, as well as local Sindhi news channels like Awaz.
Group photo featuring DAWN TV reporter (left), Mr. Khursheed Ahmed – a proud father, Ms. Mukhtar Soomro – a happy aunt, Ms. Lareb Soomro – Sindh’s Youngest published author and her uncle Mr. Ameen (right).
Open Mic:
The second occasion of the volume two of Literary evenings was an open mic session which took place in Pakistan Chowk Community Center. The Open Mic was themed, and people from all walks of life came together to share their works and lift the stigma from society’s notion regarding “Abuse”. Over the course of the evening, with so many hearts opening up to individuals who had gone through more or less the same experiences as them, the air grew somber but bittersweet in the knowledge that they were not alone.
Mr. Ahmed was a participant of the Open Mic Session held under Literary Evenings Vol II
