Six years of writing experience with Libel brought me to Istanbul when Libel organized a workshop aimed at writers and prospective writers from the MENA region. Getting a chance to physically congregate with my colleagues who had been pen pals to me for the past six years was an experience I’d never forget. It’s events like these that not only benefit your personal development but also give you a chance to create lifetime memories.
Although I was in Istanbul just a few months ago attending IFLRY’s seminar titled “Taking Ideas to the streets,” this time I was more excited mainly because this time I was going to be there as one of the Program Managers of Libel along with Eddie Aviles. Getting a leadership role in a magazine that shaped my literary career back when I was a teenager is indeed an honor for me. Another reason why I was feeling more enthusiastic this time is because, unlike in the past, I didn’t have to quarantine for 14 days upon entry. Hence, things were less hectic, and I could spend more energy on the actual event rather than having to worry about surviving the COVID quarantine.
A new perspective on Istanbul:
The last time I was in the city of Sultans, it was hot and sunny almost every day. The weather didn’t seem that different from Middle Eastern and South Asian cities despite being very close to the gloomy weather cities of Europe. Walking is also not that convenient since most of the city is built on a hilly area; therefore, finding flat roads is extremely difficult. However, this time around, the weather was quite cool, and there wasn’t much sunshine. Although this wouldn’t be the ideal weather for some people, it was very comfortable, allowing me to walk easily without getting heatstroke. Plus, I remember calling Istanbul “a city that looks like Baghdad and Vienna at the same time.” Due to its weather and infrastructure variation.
Unexpected encounters
As mentioned above, I had never met anyone from the Libel program before in my life; the only way we used to communicate was thanks to the internet. I had been working with Krijin Van Eeden and Larissa Saar, who had been handling Libel for quite some time so it’s important to point out that these were people that I had never met but instead had been connected to them for years without actually meeting in person.
I met Krijin in the elevator, and I’ll be honest, that was a very confusing moment as I didn’t want to mislabel someone else.
The First Day of the Workshop
I don’t want to single out the first day of the seminar as the most hectic one since, to be honest, all of the days were pretty busy. However, the first day was a bit more difficult mainly because nobody was used to the new routine. And participants were still arriving at the venue. We had our lunches which were sort of an informal meeting of the participants. After that, we briefly introduced the workshop, its goals, what to expect, and the opening of the stakeholders (D66, IFLRY, and Libel). After a short coffee break, we proceeded with our discussion on the principles of Journalism, Liberalism, and Democracy. At the end of the day, we had the IFLRY’s traditional cultural evening (this should be patented to IFLRY) with all the participants introducing their cultural delicacies to each other. The best of which was the biscuits from Scotland, Gazelle corn from Morroco, and Gazo from Iraq. All the others were pretty good, too, but the mentioned ones were what stuck to my mind.
Day 2 and 3
It was day 2 when we, the participants, were finally building the momentum. We had debating sessions on the second day regarding “Structuring your Argument” and “Framing Arguments in the Media,” both of which focused on in-depth conversations on a wide variety of subtopics, including how media arguments or narratives have the power to shift public opinion. This was further supported by Sam’s maps which essentially conveyed how certain areas in the globe are portrayed differently in the maps, undermining their importance to some degree. Moreover, there was also a public health plus media debate surrounding the mapping of covid and how those maps alter public opinions. Other critical conversations worth mentioning were the ones surrounding freedom of speech and its limitations, which is vital to liberals. At the end of the day, there was also this task where we were given some vague information that we had to restructure into a meaningful short article with graphs.
The third day was more focused on developing the participants’ writing skills. They were tasked with “independent researching” on any topic they’d think was worth discussing; they were given the liberty to consult with the experts or with each other if need be and will have to present their articles to each other at the end of the day where they will be given a chance to create some constructive criticism.
The Final Day
The final day was about feedback and reflecting on what we had achieved in these three days. Moreover, we also looked at our sticky notes that we attached on day 1 to see how many of the goals laid down have been achieved. The participants had lunch, and then the energetic and memorable workshop officially ended with everyone free to leave, although some (including me ) decided to stay in the City of Sultans for a bit longer to explore the thousands of years of history of the city had to offer.
“It is very special to see that so many people from different cultures can work together in a respectful, fun way. I’ve learned so much from the workshop but also from everyone who attended the workshop,” -said Dominique Pikes, representing JOVD from the Netherlands.
New Ideas
One of the workshop’s goals was to have a place where people from all over the globe could brainstorm their ideas, and that’s exactly what happened. While Eddie and I were explaining Libel to the participants, we got plenty of suggestions and questions, some of which were quite promising. Such as Ghida Knio’s suggestion about expanding Libel to the Arab world by creating an Arabic language section. As this workshop was focused on the MENA region, we had plenty of chances to interact with Arabic-speaking participants and, therefore, saw a lot of potential in it. This is something that Libel’s current Program Managers (me and Eddie) are working on.
Understanding others’ cultures and systems
Despite the fact that the workshop was focused on writing, we enjoyed a broader conversation on other subjects. Since writing isn’t limited to a particular topic, it allows creativity to blossom, so most discussions aren’t confined to one issue.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine
Perhaps the saddest global event that happened was the Russian invasion of Ukraine which was felt even in Istanbul (Turkey being a part of the NATO). One of our organizers and IFLRY Vice President Jane Fedotova belonged to Ukraine, so you can imagine the kind of distress a person faces when they are in a different country for work, and they are told that their home has been invaded. Her sheer commitment to the workshop and the Ukrainian cause at the same time was exemplary. Furthermore, to see that at the end of the workshop, all of the participants eventually returned home, but Jane could not do so because of the war at home, where cities were getting bombed indiscriminately, and airports were shut down. As of now, it’s been two months since the Istanbul workshop, and everyone (even those who overstayed) are back home and getting on with their lives. Meanwhile, Jane (currently assisting Ukraine via her temporary home base in Warsaw) still seeks the opportunity to return to a safe Kyiv.