A Country of Refuge: An Anthology of Writing on Asylum Seekers (Paperback)
Description
Compiled and edited by human rights activist and writer Lucy Popescu, this powerful collection of short fiction, memoir, poetry, and essays explores what it really means to be a refugee: to flee from conflict, poverty, and terror; to have to leave your home and family behind; and to undertake a perilous journey, only to arrive on less than welcoming shores.These writings are a testament to the strength of the human spirit. The contributors articulate simple truths about migration that will challenge the way we think about and act towards the dispossessed and those forced to seek a safe place to call home. Includes Sebastian Barry, Elaine Feinstein, Hanif Kureishi, A. L. Kennedy, Amanda Craig, Noo Saro-Wiwa, William Boyd, Rose Tremain, Marina Lewycka, and more.
About the Author
Lucy Popescu is a writer, editor, and critic with a background in human rights. She was director of English PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee from 1991 to 2006, and she co-edited the anthology Writers Under Siege. She works closely with organizations working for and with refugees.
Praise For…
"Full of powerful writing. Many of the best contributions come from writers who are refugees, or second-generation refugees, themselves . . . Again and again, these writers argue for empathy." —Times Literary Supplement
"A powerful, and frequently harrowing, collection . . . I read it with fascination." —Penelope Lively
"A beautiful insight into the painful individuality of the refugee." —Jon Snow
"A first-class collection of essays and poems, stories and memoirs. Addictively readable, they are strong, angry, compassionate and enlightening." —Sue Gaisford, The Tablet
"It is a moving, poignant, sometimes painful but always enlightening book . . . rich and wide-ranging." —Judith Vidal-Hall, ac