Annetta Benzar was born in Belarus but grew up in Cyprus. She completed an MA in English Literature from King’s College London, her Life Writing thesis focusing on sham marriages in Cyprus. Her first book, I-stories (2019), is a non-fiction collection that brings together various migrant and refugee voices from all over Cyprus. She is also a poet and eagerly participates in poetry slams. She has received various literary awards such as the University of Nicosia Young Poets Award for her poem 20 Spaces, and has been published both locally and internationally. She was also a finalist at the annual Cypriot Poetry Slam. Her writing focuses on issues of immigration, feminism, and violence between the individual and their surroundings, the state and regime.
Reading Balkans
The Literary Residence Programme
