Survivor Storytelling Anthology

As a team and community of survivors and advocates, we see storytelling as a core part of our work and movement. While many of us hold on to our stories of survivorship, we rarely get to share or tell them unapologetically and collectively. 

With SOAR’s first Storytelling Anthology, we hope to create a communal and respected space for survivors and advocates to tell their stories with agency, and be met with kindness, care, and dignity. For us, this collection of such stories is a project of care as much as it is a project of deeply necessary advocacy. 

In October 2024, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we will be publishing an Anthology of South Asian Survivor Stories. We believe that survivors deserve a communal and respected space to tell their stories with agency and be met with kindness, care, and dignity. With SOAR’s first Storytelling Anthology, we hope to do just that—share South Asian survivor stories that boldly reflect our vast and diverse community and experiences as survivors.

Read the full Call for Stories and how to submit your story! Please submit all stories by Wednesday, May 1st, 2024. 

“It has meant so much to connect with other survivors working in this DV/SV sphere and create connections by sharing our writing together. I constantly think about the tidbits and stories of everyone in our Story Circles and it has helped me so much in processing my story and why I do the work that I do.”
— FORMER STORYTELLING PROGRAM PARTICIPANT

We’re seeking stories that touch on the following themes: 

  • Journeys of surviving, healing, recovering, and/or thriving after experiencing or witnessing gender-based violence—this journey doesn’t have to be linear nor have an ending, it just has to be yours!

  • Experiences navigating services, systems (i.e. courts, housing), and organizations as a survivor or advocate

  • Experiences with cultural and/or intergenerational norms and practices that lead to and enable violence or oppression

  • Visions, plans, and re-imaginations of what communities and futures of safety and joy should look like

Stories can be submitted and told in all formats, including but not limited to: 

  • Written narratives

  • Photography 

  • Poetry 

  • Films

  • Visual art 

  • Letters

Have another format or medium you’re interested in? Let us know in the submission form!

To learn more about what to submit, read our full call for stories here!

Support for Storytellers

We are committed to supporting your storytelling journey, to the best of our ability. Support options include: 

  • 1:1 or 2:1 personalized SOAR Story Coaching for all storytellers

  • Asynchronous Story Editing for all storytellers

  • Sliding scale compensation up to $1,000 for all storytellers published in the anthology

You can find more information on safety, support, and compensation here. 

Should you have any questions or concerns, or if you'd like to schedule a 1:1 meeting, please email storytelling@southasiansoar.org!

Support survivor storytelling

Stories tell us about the conditions that lead to violence, what survival looks like, how resilience is formed, and what healing and safety could be.

Help us support survivors in sharing their stories!