Read their words, write their wrongs.
Join us as we celebrate refugees in Arts & Literature.
Categories:
Featured
Adult Fiction & Non-Fiction
Children’s Fiction & Non-Fiction
Academic Texts
Film
Many of these texts are available in the Inner West of Sydney at Gleebooks. Please contact us if you have any further suggestions to add to this list.
Adult Fiction & Non-Fiction:
Tears for Tarshiha
Author: Olfat Mahmoud
This story puts a human face on what many of us, if we understand it at all, see as a set of historical events.
Read more about what The Sydney Morning Herald had to say about it here
Notes on a Shipwreck
Author: Enia Davide
Show us in a mirror whom we ourselves have become.
Read more about what New York Times Reviewer Steven Heighton had to say here
Offshore
Author: Madeline Gleeson
A potent challenge to Australia’s asylum-seeker policy…detail[ing] locations, procedures and the desperation experienced by those who seek safe haven in Australia.
Read more about what the Stella Prize for Literature judges said here
No Friend But the Mountain
Behrouz Boouchani
"I am convinced that if the refugees in Manus Prison were provided opportunities to form and present a different perception of our character, we would be able to challenge the system in much more profound ways. We could challenge the system with greater ease. But the reality is that Australia has done everything it can to ensure that we’re not perceived as this kind of character, not recognised as professionals, as valuable and insightful contributors to the discourse. The government has tried to suppress us because they know that if we were seen in this light, things would be different."
The Undesirables, Inside Nauru
Author: Mark Isaacs
A rare eyewitness account from inside an Australian Detention Centre.
Read more about what The Sydney Morning Herald had to say about it here
Refugee Stories in Their Own Words
Author: Laurie Nowell
Inspirational stories of ordinary people forced by circumstances beyond their control to make extraordinary physical and emotional journeys to safety and freedom. Read more here
Refugee Rights and Policy Wrongs
Author: Jane McAdam & Fiona Chong
Holding Australia's current refugee law and policy to account…bringing facts to bear on a highly politicised debate.
Also charts a way forward, outlining what a human rights-based protection system might look like – and how Australia could reclaim global leadership on refugee issues.
Kaldor Centre review here
Children’s Fiction:
When Michael Met Mina
Author: Randa Abdel-Fattah
When Michael meets Mina, they are at a rally for refugees - standing on opposite sides. Mina fled Afghanistan with her mother via a refugee camp, a leaky boat and a detention centre. Michael's parents have founded a new political party called Aussie Values.
They want to stop the boats.
Mina wants to stop the hate.
When Mina wins a scholarship to Michael's private school, their lives crash together blindingly. This is a novel for anyone who wants to fight for love, and against injustice.
Ages 13+
The Year The Maps Changed
Author: Danielle Binks
Fred’s got family problems - more and more it feels like there’s a land-grab for family time and he’s being left out, and off the map.
When 400 Kosovar-Albanian refugees arrive in the middle of the night to be housed at one of Australia's 'safe havens' on an isolated headland not far from Sorrento, their fate becomes intertwined with the lives of Fred and her family, as she navigates one extraordinary year that will change them all.
Ages 12+
I’m Australian Too
Author: Mem Fox; Illustrator: Ronojoy Ghosh
Celebrated author Mem Fox brings her distinctive style to this illustrated view of the modern Australian street. As we travel down the street children see the diversity that surrounds us each day, and learn to ask what makes us Australian.
Ages 5-10
My Story of Standing Up For Girls’ Rights
Author: Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
“Defiant Malala: A symbol of women’s fight for justice. A teenager’s tale that has inspired girls the world over.”
Listen to Malala’s impassioned speech to the UN on her 16th birthday on how education can change the world. Read Amy McNeilage’s full article in the Sydney Morning Herald here
Room on our rock
Authors: Kate & Jol Temple; Illustrator: Terri Rose Bayntou
Beautifully illustrate picture book which explains themes of displacement and welcome to young children. As the story is read one way the seals believe there is no more space on their rock for others. But read in the other direction a heartwarming tale of welcome emerges.
Ages 2-10
The Arrival
Author & Illustrator: Shaun Tan
Gorgeous graphic novel, depicting the challenge of journeying alone to an unknown country to begin life anew. Without words we gain a deep sense of cultural adjustment in a new and foreign place.
Ages 10+
The Little Refugee
Authors: Anh & Suzanne Do; Illustrator: Bruce Whatley
Anh Do brings humor and hope to his family’s story, fleeing war-torn Vietnam for the shores of Australia. Through his adjustment to suburban Australia and his loving family, children are shown the bright side of triumph over adversity.
Ages 6-10
Academic Texts:
Ghezelbash, Daniel - Refugee Lost, Asylum Law in an Interdependent World (Cambridge Asylum & Migration Studies)
Higgins, Claire - Asylum By Boat, Origins of Australia’s Refugee Policy
Lenette, Caroline - Arts Based Methods in Refugee Research, Creating Sanctuary (Springer)
Mathew, Penelope & Harley, Tristan - Refugees, Regionalism & Responsibility (Elgar Studies in Human Rights)
Stevenson, Jacqueline & Baker, Sally - Refugees in Higher Education, Debate, Discourse & Practice
Soufra – The Film.
The unlikely and wildly inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur Mariam Shaar - a generational Burj El Barajneh refugee - as she sets out against all odds to change her fate by launching a successful catering company and then expanding it into a food truck business with a diverse team of fellow refugee women.