Afro-Asian Writers' Bureau
Organization promoting Afro-Asian writers' cultural exchange and solidarity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Afro-Asian Writers' Bureau (AAWB), also known as the Afro-Asian Writers Association, and the Permanent Bureau of Afro-Asian Writers, was a transcultural, intellectual, and political organization that sought to challenge Eurocentric narratives by fostering solidarity among writers from formerly colonized nations.
First Afro-Asian Writers' Conference in Tashkent, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, 1958 | |
| Abbreviation | AAWB |
|---|---|
| Successor | Writers’ Union of Africa, Asia, and Latin American |
| Formation | 1957 |
| Dissolved | 1990s |
| Purpose | Promotion of Afro-Asian cultural exchange and solidarity |
| Location |
|
Region served | Africa, Asia, Middle East |
| Members | Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, Egypt |
Secretary General | Ratne Deshapriya Senanayake |
History
The AAWB emerged from the Bandung Conference in 1955.[1] Influenced by Maoism and global socialist movements, such as the Soviets and Nasserism,[2] the organization's members aimed to be actors of cultural decolonisation.[3]
Decolonisation in the Cold War era sparked a rise in literary writing committed to anticolonial politics.[4] From 1957 to the late 20th century, the AAWB served as a forum for transnational solidarity among anticolonial writers, resisting the uneven political and economic structures of the existing world through artistic collaboration.[5] With prominent members like Mao Dun, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Kofi Awoonor, Nazim Hikmet, Yusuf Sibai, Efua Sutherland, W.E.B. Du Bois, Zhou Yang, and Ratne Deshapriya Senanayake, the AAWB played a pivotal role in promoting literary and political exchange among decolonizing nations.
The Soviet Union and China competed for control of the AAWB as a tool for cultural diplomacy, a strategy which China continues to build on in the twenty-first century.[6] Despite these conflicts, the AAWB saw transnational collaboration on major conferences and international recognition for publications such as Lotus, The Call, and the Afro-Asian Poetry Anthology series. The AAWB provided a platform for cultural exchange, anti-colonial discourse, and the redefinition of modernity from an Afro-Asian perspective.[7]
In 2019, the AAWB would be revived as the Writers’ Union of Africa, Asia, and Latin American.[8]