By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
NOBLE Park writer and musician Kalyan Ky has a novel way to help young people learn about ‘faith ‘n’ culture’.
She is calling for creative submissions from people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds for her Faith N Culture Creative Encyclopaedia.
It’s a chance for young people to express who they are in their own words — and to better understand each other.
Ky’s been honing the concept for six years. Her aim for the creative publication is to shatter cultural stereotypes and to get people thinking outside their comfort zones.
She admits that when she was younger, she had a narrow concept of other cultures. She didn’t know there was such a thing as a Jewish lesbian or a Muslim gamer. “A majority of young people probably don’t think you can have a faith and can have a life.”
Ky, who identifies herself as Cambodian-born and a lover of music and Greek cuisine, says too many books about faiths and cultures are written by outsiders. “They don’t give a good view of what the culture is like from within.”
She hopes to launch the project late next month. The coffee-table-style book will be available for places such as schools, libraries and coffee shops. Submissions can be on poetry, short stories, painting, drawing, photography, short memoirs, articles and songs
Details, submissions: faithnculture.wordpress.com or email faithnculture@gmail.com.
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