Anniyah Rizvi combines her love of writing and passion for peacemaking in two undertakings. She is nominated for the Student Peace Award by Langley High School for her participation in Writopia Lab’s Connecting Across Cultures program. Writopia Lab is a nonprofit devoted to supporting creative writing programs for youth and teens. Anniyah is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the online literary magazine Words With Weight.
Anniyah was one of 10 students in the United States – five Jewish and five Muslim – chosen to participate in Writopia Lab’s Connecting Across Cultures (CAC) initiative. Beginning in January 2024, the students met for eight weeks by Zoom to discuss their cultural backgrounds and religious affiliations. They exchanged both joyful and painful experiences, including incidents of antisemitism and islamophobia in their schools and communities. Their written expressions in the form of stories, poems and narratives are contained in a book: Connecting Across Cultures: A Collection of Writing by Ten Jewish and Muslim American Teens, published in May 2024 by Writopia. It is available in Kindle and paperback versions. Anniyah says: “The joyful experience I had with CAC taught me that while generous minds can achieve mutual respect, the process of identifying commonalities promotes understanding and empathy.”
During her sophomore year, Anniyah founded the international online youth literary magazine, Words With Weight. The magazine, with four annual editions, is centered on social justice, politics and introspection and has featured hundreds of contributors from more than 40 countries. Its goal is “to elevate youth voices, encourage literary and artistic exploration among teens, and provide staff members with opportunities to progress and refine their skills.”
In recognition of her outstanding literary and peacebuilding initiatives, Anniyah was invited to serve as a presenter at the 2024 National Council of Teachers of English Conference, “Heart, Hope, & Humanity.” She intends to continue promoting peace through dialogue and writing in college and beyond.