_Refugee_Writers__

WHO WE ARE

We're a collective of volunteers, writers, artists, and professionals; People living in Dallas with diverse identities, interests, and skills. We share common purpose in supporting the richness and diversity of Dallas culture.  We create opportunity and space for Dallas' international community to find voice and expression.

We're called Refugee Writers not because we're all refugees or asylees, but because we share the experience of moving across national, linguistic, and cultural boundaries. Often we've done this for reasons beyond our control. Sometimes our migration has been thousands of miles and sometimes our migration has been across town. 

We've worked on a range of different projects from film to creative writing to community based art.  We're always looking for new initiatives, opportunities and partnerships. Contact us for more information about what's happening now or, even better, if you have an idea to pitch.

LEADERSHIP

Justin Banta is the founder and current leader of Refugee Writers. He received his M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2010 with an emphasis on Religion and Society. He currently works as the Director of Strategic Development for a Dallas-based workforce development agency. Among his many accomplishments he's conducted research with the Center for Public Justice, served as the lead consultant on a regional orphanage policy project in Kampala, Uganda, and served as the Script Supervisor and consultant for the international film Faisal Goes West.  He frequently speaks on human migration, culture, and art.

Community Based Art/ Creative Writing

We run periodic workshops and events in community based art and creative writing. In 2011 We partnered with VLMC and SMU's Embrey Human Rights Program to run a series of creative writing workshops, culminating in our "Escape to Dallas" event at SMU.  In December 2012 we teamed up with Literacy Speaks and the Communities Foundation of North Texas, to produce another series of creative writing workshops and an event.

South Kordofan Reporting

We teamed up with the Nuba Mountain Peace Coalition during the emergence of military conflict in southern Sudan to run a series of interviews/ investigations into the nature and scope of the crisis. We spoke on a weekly basis via Skype with a number of women and men, civilian and military leaders living in the region. Our published reports catalogued in great detail violence, disease, food and water shortage, and military movements. 

Faisal Goes West

We are excited and privileged to be a part of the groundbreaking film Faisal Goes West. The United States keeps Sudan on a “terror watch list”–we brought Sudan to the heart of Texas for eight days of filmmaking. Our American and Sudanese cast was highlighted by talented actors Ramey Dawoud, Tamador Sheikheldin, Azmi Abusam and several others. Filmmakers Alyaa Sirelkhatim and Ehab Abasaeed joined our crew from the UK and Washington, D.C. A strong core of over 30 Dallas-based volunteers and professionals was led by Rani Birchfield, our standout Producer. Pre-production and filming were made a reality by backers from all over the crowd-funding universe, from L.A. to Dubai to Kuala Lumpur!

Synopsis: From the city of Khartoum to the Texas countryside Faisal and his family join the millions who have come to America in search of a better life. Too bad they chose to do so in the midst of an economic crisis–along with cultural and linguistic barriers.  It also doesn’t help when you lose the family car–Faisal, to save face, takes a job at a Texas chicken farm.