From shame to stage: How a Muslim-Australian poet reclaimed her roots

SYDNEY, Australia (MNTV) – Poet and visual artist Rania Omar is among 39 Muslim-Australian writers featured in Ritual, an anthology published by the Sweatshop Literacy Movement. 

Once embarrassed by her Western Sydney upbringing, Omar now draws on her personal journey of reclaiming identity and community as central themes in her work, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.  

When Rania Omar was a teenager, she wanted nothing more than to escape her Western Sydney roots. “I would always get questions from other young people asking me, ‘Oh, are there always gunshots?’ and ‘Aren’t you scared?’” recalls Omar, 25, a Muslim poet, writer, and visual artist of Lebanese background. “I hated it, and I was embarrassed living in western Sydney.”

Growing up in Greenacre and attending Burwood Girls High School, Omar was often made to feel like her community was something to hide. “I grew to resent western Sydney because of all the ways we were represented in the media. As any young person does, navigating the world and growing up, you’re like, ‘This identity doesn’t look very good, and I don’t want it any more’.”

But in adulthood, Omar found herself returning to the same community she once rejected, finding strength in the familiarity and warmth of her surroundings. “I went to university and when I reflected on what made me feel safe and comfortable, it was my community,” she says. “It was walking down the streets of Greenacre, getting all the love and all the smiles. If I’m struggling with something, someone immediately comes to help me.”

That sense of safety is central to Omar’s story – not just physical safety, but emotional and cultural too. A shy and introspective child, she took refuge in books and writing. “I was so quiet,” she says. “I was always reading and so shy growing up. Then I realised how much this was disadvantaging me. I wanted to connect with people so desperately, but I was getting in my own way.”

“I think it’s so incredible to see so many Muslims writing,” Omar says. “It feels like a really cool expression of under-expressed voices from a community that is still marginalized and discredited… That’s what I really love about Ritual – it’s literally all of the voices I’ve heard growing up, but put together with their best foot forward.”

Omar will perform selections of her work at this week’s Culture X Festival (Sept 12–14), a celebration of cross-cultural art at Bankstown Arts Centre. 

Her poetic roots began with songwriting, inspired by artists like Selena Gomez. “My poetry started out as songwriting… but it was really vulnerable and expressive in the way poetry is.”

The first time she performed publicly – at Bankstown Poetry Slam – she was terrified. “I was shaking so much I’m pretty sure I was vibrating on stage,” she laughs. “But it felt so safe.”

Now, that sense of safety has become a mission. “There are limited safe spaces for people with my experiences,” Omar says. “This [festival] is a huge safe space… We’re going to have fun, and we’re going to express ourselves.”