In April 2017, Anna Campbell made the journey to Rojava to fight with the YPJ in defense of the revolution and the Kurdish people. Eleven months later in March 2018, she was killed alongside Sara Merdin and Serhilden by Turkish Forces while defending Afrin. Their bodies were never recovered.
To commemorate the first year after Anna, Sara and Serhilden’s deaths, a book IMMORTAL: Mourning, Martyrs & Murals was published by Anna’s friends and family.
Anna’s loved ones have collaborated on this project as a counter-move to the pervading media narrative. The book battles with the emotions and experiences of those trying to move forward through grief in the midst of media hysteria and political turmoil. It explores the anger, pain, and guilt faced by those left behind; and scrutinises the meaning of comradeship, friendship, and family.
Whilst instigated by comrades of Anna’s, this book includes texts and images relating to Haukur Hilmarsson. Haukur, an Icelandic revolutionary, was killed in Afrin just one month before Anna in February 2018. Opening the book out to contributions relating to Haukur intends to illustrate the connections beyond family and friendship found through the shared experience of traumatic bereavement; it’s about mutuality and commonality found in the threads of everyday struggle.