Bobuq Sayed

Bobuq Sayed
EducationUniversity of Miami
San Jose State University
OccupationsWriter, poet, theatre-maker

Bobuq Sayed is an Afghan-Australian writer, poet and theatre-maker, who is the author of A Brief History of Australian Terror. It was named by ABC News as a best new book of 2024. Their novel No God But Us was published in 2026.

Life and education

Sayed was born in Australia to Afghan parents. They are non-binary. They have a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Miami.

Career

Sayed wrote an article in 2017 entitled "Literary Production Versus Institutional Whiteness", which challenges structural racism within Australian literary communities. In 2018, Sayed was a member of the theatre collective Embittered Swish, the group worked to expand the concept of trans dramaturgy, including moving away from work related to transition or dysphoria. Sayed's work also featured in the 2018 exhibition The Third Muslim: Queer and Trans* Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience held at SOMArts in San Francisco.

They are also a former editor of Archer magazine. In 2021, they co-organised a fundraiser to supply financial aid to LGBTQ+ Afghans in Afghanistan. Sayed co-edited Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia alongside Sam Elkin, Alex Gallagher and Yves Rees. They were a 2022–23 Steinbeck Fellow at San Jose State University. In 2024 they published A Brief History of Australian Terror, which was recommended by ABC News as a best new book of 2024. Academic David Coady reviewed the work as an "excellent contribution to an important topic," whilst suggesting that the work leaves some things unsaid, like the conflation of Zionism with anti-Semitism in Western media. They are a Kundiman Fellow. Their first novel No God But Us was published in 2026.

References

  1. ↑ Berry, Jess; Kalms, Nicole; Moore, Timothy; Bawden, Gene (2025-03-18). Designing Gender Sensitive Spaces for Consenting Cities: Practices and Provocations. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-040-32891-0.
  2. ↑ Pallotta-Chiarolli, Maria (2018-09-24). Living and Loving in Diversity: An anthology of Australian multicultural queer adventures. Wakefield Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-74305-595-3.
  3. 1 2 3 Reich, Hannah (2018-06-21). "Troubling the linear: Meet the trans and non-binary artists reimagining the way we tell stories". ABC News. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  4. 1 2 Fry, Declan (2024-12-13). "Sex, chess and time travel: Welcome to the best books of 2024". ABC News. Retrieved 2025-11-09.
  5. 1 2 Seidel, Matt (January 2, 2026). "Spring 2026 Writers to Watch: Bobuq Sayed". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
  6. 1 2 3 Belkacemi, Rim El (2020-10-09). "Pushing the boundaries". University of Miami News and Events. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  7. ↑ Quist, Jennifer (2025-05-15). Translingual Creative Writing Theory, Practice, and Pedagogy: Daoism and Decentering Monolingual Workshops. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-350-51062-3.
  8. ↑ Kayvon, Shervin (January 24, 2018). "Queer Muslim Artists Are Beyond A 'Movement'". INTO. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  9. ↑ Lim, Clarissa-Jan (August 18, 2021). "Organizers Of A GoFundMe To Help Queer And Trans Afghans Say The Platform Won't Allow Them To Access The Money". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 2024-02-29. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  10. ↑ Herbert, Lezly (2022-09-04). "Bibliophile | 'Nothing to Hide' shares stories of trans & gender diverse Australia". OUTinPerth. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
  11. ↑ Kendall, Jonathon; Walker, Alice (2022-10-02). "ABC's Julie Peters in new transgender and gender diverse anthology Nothing to Hide". ABC listen. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  12. ↑ "Bobuq Sayed". Guernica. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  13. ↑ "Past Fellows". San José State University. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
  14. ↑ Coady, David (9 December 2024). "Review of A Brief History of Australian Terror, by Bobuq Sayed". Mascara Literary Review (30).
  15. ↑ "Fellows". Kundiman. Retrieved 2025-11-16.