Dîdem Elî/JINHA

SERÊKANIYÊ–Poet AnahîtaSîno, who lives in the Rojava city of Serêkaniyê, says the Rojava revolution and the experience of women have recently come to the fore in her work.

Anahîta, 47, has been writing poetry for the last 17 years in the city, part of the canton of Cizîrê. With the Rojava revolution, she started working on the Arts and Culture Committee in the city.

"I used to write in Arabic," she said, "but with the Rojava revolution I began to write my poems in Kurdish."

Anahîta says she had not known how to write her native language of Kurdish, but the Rojava revolution inspired her to learn. Before the Rojava revolution, all education in Syria was in Arabic. This made the written form of the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish spoken here, which is written in Latin letters, inaccessible to most.

"To be able to know and express oneself in one's one language truly makes you happy," said Anahîta.

She says her four children, seeing their mother working as a poet, now say they want to be poets too. They write poetry at home.

Anahîta said she will continue to write as long as she lives.

"If we want to develop, we need to do it with our culture, art and history," she said. "With my poetry, I am writing the Rojava revolution. I am writing women's leadership in resistance."

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