Voices
of
Jordan
A multimedia journey through the lives, places, and questions behind the book.
A country seen through people
Voices of Jordan tells the story of a country through individual lives. Across homes, public institutions, family histories, artistic spaces, classrooms, refugee communities, and places of faith, Rana F. Sweis follows people whose private experiences reveal larger questions about identity, belonging, power, memory, exile, faith, and change.
Rather than explaining Jordan from a distance, the book moves closer — into the lives, places, and conversations that form a more intimate portrait of a country in transition.
Inside the story:
The Ten Voices · Beyond the Book · From the Archive
Jordan comes into view through ten lives — stories shaped by memory, exile, faith, family, public life, art, and belonging.
Together, they form an intimate portrait of a country as it is lived.
Amal Sawaan
Survivor in Exile
Amal Sawaan’s chapter follows a life shaped by displacement, memory, family, and the search for dignity after exile. Her story brings the reader close to the private experience of rebuilding a life, while asking what home can mean when it is carried across distance and memory.
Amal Sawaan, photographed for Voices of Jordan.
Amal Sawaan, photographed for Voices of Jordan.
“Even if it were easy, there’s nothing like one’s own country, one’s own home.”
Amal’s chapter follows the difficult work of rebuilding a life after displacement, while holding on to memory, dignity, and the meaning of home.
Wafa Bani Mustafa
The Lady Under the Dome
Wafa Bani Mustafa’s chapter follows a woman navigating public life, political responsibility, and the pressures of visibility. Her story opens a wider conversation about who is heard, who is seen, and what it means to claim space within institutions shaped by power and expectation.
“I will be the voice that will not be silenced.”
Wafa Bani Mustafa with her kids, photographed for Voices of Jordan.
Wafa Bani Mustafa with her kids, photographed for Voices of Jordan.
Through Wafa’s story, the chapter explores the struggles and perseverance of women elected officials, the challenges of campaigning in a male-dominated district, and the realities of entering local politics. It also examines broader themes of women and the law in Jordan, and the evolving role of women in the country’s decision-making process.
Omar Al-Abdallat
The Art of Being
Omar Al-Abdallat’s chapter explores the relationship between art, identity, and public expression. His story shows how creative work can become a way of observing society, holding memory, and giving form to questions that are not always easily spoken.
Omar Al-Abdallat, photographed for Voices of Jordan.
Omar Al-Abdallat, photographed for Voices of Jordan.
Through Omar’s story, the book considers expression as both a personal practice and a public act. Creative work becomes a space where individual experience can meet wider questions about society, identity, and change.
Jeries Akroush The Decider
Jeries Akroush The Decider
Jamal Shultaf Betwixt and Between
Jamal Shultaf Betwixt and Between
Lina Asaad The Rebel Reader
Lina Asaad The Rebel Reader
“Everything was either black or white.”
Sawsan Maani Maternal Forever
Sawsan Maani Maternal Forever
Shirene Rifai Viva La Diva
Shirene Rifai Viva La Diva
THE OUTREACH
After publication, the outreach began. Through launches, public talks, interviews, reader gatherings, and international conversations, the book continued to travel — carrying its stories into new spaces and connecting them with new audiences.
BEYOND THE BOOK
The Story Continues in Public
Since its publication, Voices of Jordan has continued through book launches, public talks, interviews, exhibitions, classroom conversations, and reader events.
PUBLIC CONVERSATIONS
Through talks, workshops, and shared discussions, the questions raised by Voices of Jordan continue to travel. The stories become a starting point for wider conversations about identity, displacement, memory, faith, and belonging — bringing readers and audiences into the world behind the book.
A Book Shared with Readers
At book launches and reader events, the stories in Voices of Jordan move into a shared space. Each encounter invites new questions, memories, and reflections — extending the life of the book beyond the moment of reading.
Through these exchanges, the ten individual stories continue to connect with new audiences and become part of a wider conversation about Jordan, identity, and belonging.
THE AUTHOR
Rana F. Sweis
Rana F. Sweis is a Jordanian journalist and author whose work explores identity, politics, society, and the human stories behind public events.
In Voices of Jordan, she follows ten individual lives to create an intimate portrait of a country often described from a distance. Through reporting, photography, and close observation, the book moves between private experience and the wider forces shaping contemporary Jordan.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Salah Malkawi
The book is accompanied by striking photography from each country and subject by renowned
Getty Images photographer Salah Malkawi, adding a powerful visual dimension to the narrative.
Salah Malkawi is an award-winning Jordanian photographer with more than 25 years of experience in documentary, conflict, and humanitarian photography across the Middle East. A longtime contributing photographer for Getty Images, he has documented some of the region’s defining events, including the Iraq War, the 2006 Lebanon War, the Arab Spring, and successive refugee and humanitarian crises. His work has also included extensive visual storytelling for UNHCR, UNICEF, and WFP, particularly on displacement and refugee communities, as well as coverage of Jordan’s political and social landscape. Malkawi served as a senior photographer at AlMamlaka TV from 2018 to 2025 and has received international recognition, including a Bronze Award at the International Loupe Awards and an Award of Excellence from Best of News Design. He studied photography at the Stavraku College of Cinema & Photography in Athens and is fluent in Arabic, English, and Greek.
CONTINUE THE JOURNEY
Discover Voices of Jordan
Ten individual lives come together in an intimate portrait of Jordan — told through memory, exile, faith, family, public life, art, and belonging.
COMING SOON
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