Sara Mansour Explained

Sara Mansour
Birth Date:16 May 1993
Birth Place:Bankstown, New South Wales
Nationality:Australian
Citizenship:Australian
Education:Bachelor of Laws
Alma Mater:Western Sydney University

Sara Mansour is an Australian lawyer,[1] writer, poet, and founder/artistic director of the Bankstown Poetry Slam.[2] [3] [4] The Bankstown Poetry Slam is the largest regular Poetry Slam in Australia[5] which offers an artistic outlet for the often-marginalised youth of Western Sydney to share their voice in a safe and inclusive environment.[6] [7]

Education

Mansour graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor of Laws from Western Sydney University.

Career

Mansour co-founded Bankstown Poetry Slam in 2013 with fellow poet Ahmad Al Rady. Bankstown Poetry Slam holds monthly workshops and Poetry Slam performance evenings which often have more than 300 guests in attendance. Notable poets such as the late Candy Royalle, Rupi Kaur, and Omar Musa have performed at Bankstown Poetry Slam.[8] [9] [10] In 2018, Mansour's team was required to hire security guards for their monthly event after Australian politician Mark Latham incited online racial abuse and death threats towards the Slam-goers.[6]

In 2018, Mansour was one of the nine founding board members of NOW Australia, a not-for-profit national organisation that sought to provide assistance to victims of sexual harassment, intimidation, or abuse in the workplace. NOW Australia was initially led by veteran Australian journalist Tracey Spicer AM and was dissolved in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

In 2019, Mansour co-wrote an episode of Halal Gurls, a six-episode Australian comedy-drama on ABC TV.[12] Halal Gurls is about a group of Muslim women, their careers, and their personal lives in Western Sydney.[13] The show was nominated for an AACTA Award in 2020.[14]

Honours and recognition

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 2021-09-11. From over-surveillance to being called 'terrorists', here's what Australian Muslims faced after 9/11. en-AU. ABC News. 2021-10-12.
  2. Web site: Coade. Melissa. 2018-04-04. Young lawyer leads movement to end workplace sexual harassment. 2021-10-12. www.lawyersweekly.com.au. en-gb.
  3. News: 2017-01-26. Australia Day award winners named. Daily Telegraph. 2021-10-12.
  4. News: Dumas . Daisy . 2024-02-12 . Poetry forged in war: Palestinian exile and social media sensation Plestia Alaqad leaves Sydney audience in tears . 2024-02-13 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  5. Web site: Why poetry is a powerful way to shed light on injustices dailylife.com.au. 2021-10-12. www.dailylife.com.au.
  6. Web site: 2018-03-08. Poetry slam hires security after Mark Latham calls it 'Islamic political ranting'. 2021-10-12. the Guardian. en.
  7. Web site: Why poetry is a powerful way to shed light on injustices. 2021-10-12. Daily Life. en.
  8. Web site: 2018-06-25. 'A fierce bright light': poet and activist Candy Royalle dies, aged 37. 2021-10-12. the Guardian. en.
  9. Web site: Pitt. Helen. 2019-11-01. Thought poetry was dead? The 'Instapoets' raking it in online would beg to differ. 2021-10-12. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.
  10. Web site: 2017-11-29. Omar Musa: Genocide is the basis for racism in Australia. 2021-10-12. the Guardian. en.
  11. Web site: 2020-06-12. NOW Australia has closed down. 2021-10-12. The Industry Observer. en-AU.
  12. Web site: 2019-09-24. Trailer Drops For 'World's First Hijabi Comedy' Halal Gurls. 2021-10-12. HuffPost. en.
  13. Web site: 2019-09-24. ABC iView to premiere world's first hijabi comedy series, Halal Gurls. 2021-10-12. Mumbrella. en-US.
  14. Web site: Rugendyke. Louise. 2021-05-26. The 'hired help' steal the show in SBS's riotous heist comedy. 2021-10-12. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.