Dachan Asmae

Asmae Dachan is an independent journalist, photographer, and Italian-Syrian writer. She is an adjunct lecturer in Multimedia Arabic and Arabic for International Cooperation at the University of Macerata and a member of the Board of the Order of Journalists of the Marche region. She contributes to several outlets, including Avvenire, Confronti, Vita non Profit, Oasis, Senza Filtro, L’Espresso, Venerdì di Repubblica and Valigia Blu, focusing in particular on the Middle East, human rights, interreligious dialogue and labour issues. She has worked in Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Belgium, Greece, England, Ireland, Ethiopia and Tanzania.

She has been awarded the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, is a Peace Ambassador for the University of Switzerland for Peace, and volunteers as a rescue worker with the Italian Red Cross. She is a witness for Centro Astalli—the Jesuits’ service for refugees in Italy—within the Focus Journalism Project and the Literature and Exile Project. She created and writes the blog Diario di Siria (“Writing to rediscover the value of human life”) and the podcast Siria, guerra e gelsomini. She is the author of award-winning novels and poetry collections recognised in several competitions. Her most recent work is Cicatrice su tela (Castelvecchi, May 2022), winner of the Nadia Toffa Prize 2022.