We Refugees Archive

A city, it has no interest in your identity.
Berlin does not care about your nationality, skin color, religion or ideological convictions.
It says to its inhabitants: ‘Be as you are and as you love.’
Berlin has free spaces. The person inside can be isolated in their house and not meet anyone.
People can watch, dance and sing in the street with friends until the morning.
And I do everything like Berliners.

“A city, it has no interest in your identity.

Berlin doesn’t care about your nationality, skin color, religion or ideological conviction.

It says to its inhabitants: ‘Be as you are and how you love.’

Berlin has open spaces. People can be isolated in their houses and not meet anybody.

People can watch, dance, and sing with their friends on the street until the morning.

And I do everything like the Berliners do.”

Widad Nabi was born in Kobani and now lives in Berlin. The Syrian-Kurdish writer studied economics in Aleppo. She published numerous texts in newspapers and magazines. In Germany, she has published in the Berliner Zeitung, SPON and Kursbuch, among others. Her first book in German was published in 2019 and in 2018 she received the first “Weiterschreiben-Stipendium Wiesbaden”.

In her texts Widad Nabi deals with the loss of familiar places, people and languages, but also with her arrival in the new city of Berlin. Her poems, which are published in the “Weiterschreiben”, can also be listened to there.

In a written interview with We Refugees Archive in July 2020, Widad Nabi answered questions about her life in Berlin, her memories and hopes.

Published with kind permission of Widad Nabi.