Queer Work × Refugee Welcome Week 2026

On Queer Storytelling & Refugee Narratives

How can storytelling become a form of healing, visibility, and resistance?

To open Refugee Welcome Week 2026, Queer Work presents A Letter Full of Love to an Unknown Person, a community-led book project created by LGBTQIA+ refugees and community members in Amsterdam.
Through five creative writing workshops, participants reflected on migration, identity, belonging, friendship, family, love, resilience, and hope. Their letters now form the chapters of a collective book that centers queer refugee voices and experiences.This special evening celebrates the power of community storytelling and explores how writing can help us reclaim our narratives, connect with others, and imagine futures rooted in dignity, solidarity, and radical love.

Program:

Introduction to the Book Project
Sajad Salmanpour
Founder of Queer Work and project leader of the book project
Sajad will introduce the origins of A Letter Full of Love to an Unknown Person, the creative process behind the workshops, and the importance of documenting LGBTQIA+ refugee narratives through community-led storytelling.

Readings & Conversation with Co-authors
Meet some of the writers and contributors whose letters appear in the book:
Mr. H
Writer and co-author
_______________________
Tural
LGBTQI+ community member and co-author
_______________________
Nakanyike Ashura
Queer writer and co-author

Together they will share excerpts from their letters and reflect on what it means to write about migration, identity, belonging, and love.

Photography & Visual Storytelling
Rachel Hine
Creative Director and Photographer of the Book
Throughout the evening, visitors can view a selection of portraits and images created as part of the project. The photography exhibition highlights the faces, stories, and presence of LGBTQIA+ refugees who contributed to the book.

Creative Writing Workshop
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz
Workshop Facilitator and Queer Filipino Writer
Rochita will guide participants through a short interactive writing exercise exploring autobiography, memoir, memory, and storytelling. The workshop invites participants to experience writing as a tool for reflection, connection, and healing.

Why This Project Matters
For many LGBTQIA+ refugees, migration is not only about crossing bordersit is also about rebuilding identity, finding belonging, and creating new forms of community. Too often, refugee stories are told by others. This project creates a space where people tell their own stories, in their own words.
A Letter Full of Love to an Unknown Person is a celebration of queer refugee visibility, resilience, creativity, and community. It invites us to listen deeply and recognize the shared humanity that connects us all.

Queer Newcomers Program

How do we move beyond isolation and create communities rooted in care, solidarity, and belonging?
As part of Refugee Welcome Week 2026, Queer Work, Trans United Europe, ARQ, and Refugee Academy invite LGBTQIA+ newcomers, refugees, community members, researchers, professionals, and allies to come together for an afternoon of dialogue, reflection, and exchange.
Through community conversations, presentations, networking, and shared meals, we explore how we can strengthen support systems and build futures where queer newcomers can thrive.

Program:

15:00 – Welcome & Arrival

15:30 – 17:00 | Community Dialogue & Exchange
Conversations exploring the realities, needs, challenges, and aspirations of queer newcomers in the Netherlands.
– Queer Work
Supporting LGBTQIA+ refugees through empowerment, storytelling, community building, education, and pathways toward employment.
– Trans United Europe
Working for the rights, visibility, health, and empowerment of trans and gender-diverse communities.
– Brand Berghouwer (he/him), therapist and coach. Author of the upcoming free guide ‘Your Stress Has a Name, sharing more information about this book.
– Maruf Foundation
sharing about their work as supporting LGBTQIA+ Muslims and creating space for conversations on faith, identity, belonging, and community.
– ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre
Presenting the Mind-Spring LGBTQIA+ Programme — an 8-session course by and for queer refugees focused on mental wellbeing, resilience, and coping with stress.

17:30 – 18:15 | Lecture: Radical Hope

Lecture by Prof. Dr. Halleh Ghorashi
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam / Refugee Academy
Professor Ghorashi will speak about Radical Hope, belonging, and the importance of creating communities where newcomers can flourish.

18:30 – 19:30 | Conversations
“What Do Queer Newcomers Need?”

19:30 | Community Dinner
A shared meal and informal gathering with speakers, organizations, activists, and participants.