Sarah Oliver
When Burnside resident Zara Niaz, 16, wrote about her experience wearing a hijab for the first time, she never expected her work to be recognised or that she’d win an award for it.
Each year, the ABC runs a ‘Takeover Melbourne’ competition for young writers to submit stories which are turned into audio or visual pieces, produced by the winners and ABC producers.
Zara entered the competition because she wanted her voice to be heard, but didn’t expect anything to come from it.
“I got a call on my birthday that I was shortlisted for the competition, then two weeks after that they told me I had won and I was speechless … I didn’t really think it was going to happen but when I got the call I was amazed,” she said.
Despite “never really considering myself as a writer,” the win boosted Zara’s confidence.
“I’m a really introverted person and this really brought myself out a little more and I’ve been able to talk about things more,” she said.
Due to COVID restrictions, Zara had to produce her audio story remotely, connected to ABC studios through an app on her smartphone.
“The whole process of working through the story and making it better than it already was, was really fun and a really cool experience.
“I don’t like hearing my voice but listening to it was actually really cool because I didn’t know I could sound like that and it came out really nicely with all the background effects.”
Zara said the topic of her story is really special to her, and she was excited to share it with her family.
“My mum got pretty emotional because it was a big thing for all of us and so that made me emotional too.
“My father is deaf … so he only had to read the story and he was just really proud.”
Zara said she wanted to be an inspiration to other young Muslim girls.
“I would just say [to them] take your time … it took me a lot of time too and while I was coming to this whole point in my life, I was reflecting on myself.
“… having a really supportive family and friends that you can go to and talk to about whatever [your] feeling is really important.”
Zara also said she is thankful that the ABC gave her this opportunity.
“It’s amazing to have a platform where you can speak and your opinions aren’t belittled, because everybody else has their own story.”
Details: ab.co/3xyTy8s
