Photographs: Sara Brun Nielsen and Cristina González Torelló
Text: Katharine H Noyed
It all started when Sara Brun Nielsen and Cristina González Torelló sat next to each other during their first semester of the Global Refugee Studies master's programme at Aalborg University in Copenhagen. After listening to a presentation from the university's start-up programme, The Incubator, and realizing that most of the discourse on forced migration and refugee studies comes from a western perspective, they felt inspired to take action. This was when the idea of Authxrs was born.
Authxrs (pronounced Authors) is a sustainable media and publishing house covering the autobiographies of individuals experiencing crisis, oppression, and injustice worldwide.
Authxrs (pronounced Authors) is a sustainable media and publishing house covering the autobiographies of individuals experiencing crisis, oppression, and injustice worldwide. With a focus on representation, Authxrs seeks to give a platform to those typically underrepresented in media and academic writings due to the intersecting factors of gender, age, sexuality, beliefs, and culture. Sara and Cristina firmly believe that "Everyone should be the author of their own story", which is why they created Authxrs as a platform for people globally to share their stories.
But where do these stories come from? Authxrs works closely with NGOs worldwide to gain access to people willing to share their stories. As some live in highly dangerous and precarious situations, Authxrs maintains the highest degree of ethical standards mapped out by Danish journalism to ensure their storytellers are able to communicate what they feel is important to share and ensure their safety as well. In addition to highlighting an individual's story through ghost-writing, Authxrs offers the contextual background needed to better understand the dynamics of the nation-state or region being covered. Together, Sara and Cristina believe: "that's where you get the full understanding of human life and of history. You cannot tell history without these testimonies."
So, currently, this female-ran start-up is focusing on storytelling through their Instagram account @authxrs. They plan to diversify their business by creating a podcast and a sustainable line of books moving forward. So if you are interested in reading the real stories of those typically underrepresented globally, be sure to give Authxrs a follow!