Bobuq Sayed
Writer in the Afghan diaspora
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bobuq Sayed is an Afghan-Australian writer, poet and theatre-maker,[1][2][3] who is the author of A Brief History of Australian Terror. It was recommended by ABC News as a "best new book" in 2024. Their novel No God But Us is due to be published in 2026.
Bobuq Sayed | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Miami San Jose State University |
| Occupations | Writer, poet, theatre-maker |
Early life and education
Born in Australia to Afghan parents,[4] they are member of the Afghan diaspora and are non-binary.[3] They have a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Miami.[4]
Career
In 2018, Sayed was a member of the theatre collective Embittered Swish, the group worked to create performances that expanded what was considered trans dramaturgy.[3] This involved moving away, for example, from work related to transition or dysphoria.[3] Sayed's work also featured in the 2018 exhibition The Third Muslim: Queer and Trans* Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience held at SOMArts in San Francisco.[5]
Sayed's writing challenges perceived structural racism within Australian literary communities.[6] They are also a former editor of Archer magazine.[4] Sayed co-edited Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia alongside Sam Elkin, Alex Gallagher and Yves Rees.[7][8] They were a 2022–23 Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University.[9] In 2024 they published A Brief History of Australian Terror,[10] which was recommended by ABC News as a "best new book" in 2024.[10] Academic David Coady reviewed the work as an "excellent contribution to an important topic", whilst suggesting that the work leaves many things unsaid especially the conflation of Zionism with ant-Semitism in Western thought.[11] A Kundiman Fellow,[12] their first novel No God But Us is due to be published in 2026.[13]
In 2021, they co-organised a fundraiser to supply mutual aid to LGBTQ+ Afghans in Afghanistan.[14]