Untold’s principal purpose is to deliver a sustainable development programme for writers structurally marginalised by community or conflict. In many parts of the world, creative expression is hampered by instability, internal displacement, and repressive social norms. Literary narratives from these environments are often dominated by voices from elsewhere, and stories by local writers are in danger of becoming a lost cultural heritage. Through Untold, writers, with creative ambition, who are currently unable to develop their writing beyond their immediate communities can develop their craft in their own languages, be connected to each other, and reach new international audiences through translation. Over the period July 2024 to June 2025, Untold continued to establish and grow Paranda, a global network delivering a literary editorial process to support Afghan women writers in Afghanistan and those in the diaspora to connect and amplify their voices. Untold also marked the publication of its collective diary project. In August 2021, when the Taliban re-took control, Untold’s writers stayed connected via WhatsApp. Untold translated, collected and collated these messages over the subsequent 12 months and in August 2024 UK publisher, Coronet, published My Dear Kabul – a Year in the Life of an Afghan Women’s Writing Group. Untold also partnered with the British Library and the British Council to convene a roundtable in June for those working in the writers-at-risk sector more broadly. Our work with writers last year met three core objectives: 1.Craft/professional development 2.Network development 3.Reaching new audiences 1.CRAFT/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Untold continued to deliver its editorial development process with 38 Afghan women writers. Writers work in their original languages - Dari and Pashto - re-working their stories in collaboration with Untold’s editors and literary translators to hone their fiction and life writing for potential publication in translation, in respected global literary journals. Throughout the year, craft development work was delivered to writers via a writer-translator-editor(s) model. Writers worked one-to-one, in small group workshops, and in larger groups to develop and build their creative writing skills. Last year Untold delivered 150 editorial sessions, six translator workshops, and convened eight editors’ meetings, bringing editors together to learn from each other’s experiences. Untold is moving towards an Afghan-led project model, so that Paranda is managed and delivered by a majority Afghan team. In 2024, Afghan editors started working with writers in Dari and Pashto, to develop several drafts of a story before it is passed on for translation. In December, a writer from the Paranda group began working with Untold as a freelance researcher and translator on the group’s fortnightly newsletter. In January, we set up a monthly Paranda Bookclub, at the request of the group, facilitated and managed by one of the writers, now based in Germany. In June, this progressed a step further with that writer taking on a freelance position as project co-ordinator for one day a week. All Paranda writers confirmed their writing had developed as a result of the project. Many said the project helped them to feel less isolated and confidence in their writing had grown. One reported, “the most important thing is connection with other writers. It helps me to improve my work and gives me the motivation to keep going.” During the year, Untold developed a sample and secured a commission for one of the writers, with a large independent UK publisher for a non-fiction book about her experiences of the UK asylum system – this will be the first single author book to come out of Paranda (to be published 2027). 2.NETWORK DEVELOPMENT With Untold’s support, Afghan women writers connect with each other despite the challenges they face at home and in the diaspora through regular group calls to discuss their writing and with international industry professionals offering guidance and career development. Throughout the year, a series of established international writers and industry professionals attended guest speaker sessions, connecting Paranda writers to the international publishing industry and growing their network. We hosted 12 sessions between July and June. Facilitating these sessions led to further partnerships. For example, author Kate Mosse collaborated on a letter exchange with a Paranda writer which was published in June in The Sunday Times, online and in print. Kate Mosse also spoke about the exchange and the Paranda project on The Times podcast, Off Air: “We spoke writer to writer. These writers are like writers anywhere in the world. They are just like me. It was an extraordinary experience.” This year Untold shared 12 newsletters with Paranda writers, in English and Dari, featuring Untold updates; international writing opportunities; news from the publishing industry; new writing by a Paranda member; and an editor’s tip. At the request of the group, in January, we set up a monthly Paranda Book Club. Each month writers suggest a book which they read in Dari or Pashto and discuss together. An average of 25 members attend each meeting. The club is a direct way for members from the two Paranda cohorts (2020/21 and 2024) to connect and a chance for writers to self-organise without facilitation from Untold. To build on Untold’s Write Assamese project (2022), and to promote new writing from Assam, an Assamese writer and translator, along with one of the Paranda writers (based in Germany) attended an Untold event in October, hosted by KfW Stiftung in Frankfurt, to discuss translation and writing across borders in front of an international audience of 60 people, on the eve of Frankfurt Book Fair. This was an opportunity for Paranda writers to connect directly with those from Untold’s Write Assamese project. 3.REACHING NEW AUDIENCES Untold builds relationships with global literary editors/commissioners and brokers’ commissions for work by Paranda writers across the world through relationships with publications including, Nogaam, Words Without Borders, WritersMosaic, AEON, The Markaz Review, Critical Muslim, Wasafiri, The Sunday Times and Exiled Writers Ink. Last year, Untold brokered 19 publications and writers received a cumulative total of paid commissions (conversion rates vary) of around £5,000, plus royalties generated by Untold’s publications. In partnership with the British Library, Untold put together a team of academics in poetry, literature, languages and the diaspora communities of Afghanistan from Oxford, Cambridge and Sussex universities, to develop and deliver a proposal for a guest edition of Wasafiri magazine - Re-imagining Afghanistan - from a woman’s perspective - which is slated for publication in 2027. Nogaam Publishing, a Persian-language publisher, has selected 10 stories by Paranda writers written between 2020 and 2025, to be published as a collection in Dari, as an e-book and in print, in December 2025. This will enable Paranda writers to find readers in their own language, as well as in the diaspora. We continued to work with our German partner, Weiter Schreiben, on our letter exchange project. Between June-December 2024, three Paranda writers exchanged letters with well-known German writers. These were published on the Weiter Schreiben literature platform. In March, three more Afghan writers were selected to participate in the next series of exchanges. Their letters will be published later in 2025. This partnership continues to amplify the voices of authors from Afghanistan and those in exile. It is the fifth year of this exchange project which reaches an average of 10,000 German readers, per exchange. Throughout the year, Untold continued to reach new audiences through live events. Writers from Paranda presented at international events including, Wimbledon BookFest, Cambridge Literature Festival, Sydney Writers Festival, The World Forum on Refugee Education, Jaipur Literature Festival (London) and Refugee Week at the British Library. The approximate cumulative total of in-person attendees at these events was 1,500. Online, Untold reached 103,605 unique users and gained 1,425 new followers across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and BlueSky. Our largest event of the year was a launch to mark the hardback publication of My Dear Kabul at the British Library in September 2024 with an in-person audience of 265. The discussion was moderated by BBC International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet, in conversation with contributing writers, co-translators and co-editors. The audience included literary agents, publishers, journalists, documentary makers, writers, Untold’s partners and the public. More than 100 copies of My Dear Kabul were sold. The book was BBC Radio 4’s ‘Book of the Week’ in March. It also featured /was reviewed in: The Observer, The Economist, Service95, BBC Radio 4 Today Programme, BBC Cambridgeshire, Himal Southasian, The Markaz Review, Monocle Radio, The Guilty Feminist, Positive News, Radio Times, Times Literary Supplement and Elif Shafak’s ‘Five books that shaped me’ in The i Paper. The hardback has sold 1,927 copies in the UK and the paperback published in June, has sold 996 copies in the UK, so far. The book is selling well in India and Australia, while translation rights have been sold to Spain, China and Germany. Untold facilitated conversations between an established UK based playwright and Afghan contributors of My Dear Kabul to develop a new verbatim theatre piece about Afghanistan. They are pursing this project independently and continue to draw on Untold’s experience and expertise where necessary. A previous publication, My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird, New Fiction by Afghan Women, found new audiences through translation and publication in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Ukrainian plus the option for animation rights was renewed for a third year by Breaking Productions. This year we have consolidated Untold’s existing project partnerships as well as securing new ones with Nogaam, The Sunday Times, The Women’s Prize, AEON, and Wasafiri. Untold partnered with the British Library and the British Council to convene a roundtable of industry professionals in June: writer development organisations, agents, independent publishers, commercial publishers, and literary scouts explored the challenges structurally marginalised writers face in developing and promoting their work, globally. Funds from The Funding Network (TFN) enabled Untold to facilitate a strategy day, to develop a new strategic plan and to refresh Untold’s website. Untold continued to prioritise the safety of project participants and while there were several security challenges during the year, serious impacts were mitigated by consulting our security advisors immediately. We are in constant contact with Paranda writers, as well as our wider network of technical and local advisors, regarding the safest methods of communication. Untold’s capacity was stable with a dedicated project manager for Paranda, regular social media support has helped Untold grow its following, and a new accountant has joined the team. Untold received repeat funding from the existing supporters of the Paranda project and secured several new smaller funders. The CIC continues to work with the UK registered charity, Prospero World, to accept private donations from the UK and the USA. During 2024-2025 the board of Untold Narratives comprised four directors: Sarah Gardner, William Hicks, Will Forrester (who commenced on 21 November 2024) and Lucy Hannah. During the year, the Board met eight times to review activities and finances, ensure compliance and plan for the future.

Untold Narratives has a variety of stakeholders: 1.Project participants and beneficiaries Throughout the year we conduct regular monitoring and evaluation feedback sessions with all project participants. These reports inform changes in the design and delivery of our programming. They also inform the way we work and reflect how best we can prioritise the safety of all participants. We work with a highly experienced evaluation consultant who guides our M and E sessions with all participants and beneficiaries. 2.Project partners Untold has project delivery partners in different parts of the world. Every project is developed and delivered in collaboration with these local partners. Feedback sessions are carried out on completion of each phase of all projects, and we can evidence how the project’s design is informed by this regular input. 3.Funders and supporters At each phase in the delivery of our projects we report to funders (foundations and government agencies, as well as private donors) via a written report which evidences impact and the ways in which we have adapted programming in response to feedback from project participants and beneficiaries. We also produce a quarterly newsletter for Untold’s subscribers.

No remuneration was received

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration