I’ve been working to amplify voices of refugees and asylum seekers since 2015, when a 12-year-old boy named Mez joined my family as the first of four foster brothers I now have from Eritrea, Sudan, Libya and Afghanistan. Their stories led me to the Calais Jungle in an attempt to challenge the negative media portrayal of those experiencing displacement. I’ve since worked in refugee camps across the world from France to Bangladesh, sharing food, stories, laughter, and tears, asking questions and learning from those I meet. My book is a compilation of the stories that have impacted me most (Mez being the first), and a testament to those who shared them with me.
I wrote
Asylum Speakers: Stories of Migration From the Humans Behind the Headlines
I read this book when my own family was in the process of welcoming a new foster brother from Afghanistan.
Reading Gulwali’s very personal journey from Afghanistan to the UK as an unaccompanied child helped us to understand what my own brother had been through and the journey he had taken. It gave us context as to the Afghanistan he experienced and left behind, and we passed the book around the whole family and devoured it eagerly.
Gulwali’s story is raw and real and is the most powerful account of a child refugee I have ever read.
A gripping, inspiring, and eye-opening memoir of fortitude and survival—of a twelve-year-old boy’s traumatic flight from Afghanistan to the West—that puts a face to one of the most shocking and devastating humanitarian crises of our time.
“To risk my life had to mean something. Otherwise what was it all for?”
In 2006, after his father was killed, Gulwali Passarlay was caught between the Taliban who wanted to recruit him, and the Americans who wanted to use him. To protect her son, Gulwali’s mother sent him away. The search for safety would lead the twelve-year-old across eight countries, from the mountains…
This book is history in the making. Iconic, heart-breaking, and so, so powerful.
It is such a simple concept and a truly accessible introduction to the situation for asylum seekers in Calais, which I personally experienced during my time volunteering there. It’s visual and easy to pick up and put down, which successfully and impactfully breaks down a huge topic. A topic, place, and issue very close to my heart.
Calais is where my work with refugees began, and my time there changed my life forever. Mathilda has compiled exactly why.
'A beautiful, deeply affecting and powerful marriage between art and activism' - KHALED HOSSEINI, bestselling author of The Kite Runner
'These are vital conversations. Everyone should eavesdrop on them'- KAMILA SHAMSIE, author of award-winning bestseller Home Fire
Conversations From Calais is a global art movement that captures moments between volunteers and refugees in poster form. Pasted on our city walls these posters amplify marginalised voices and bear witness to those who are often ignored.
Features essay contributions by Osman Yousefzada, Gulwali Passarlay, Nish Kumar, Joudie Kalla, Waad Al-Kateab, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Ai Weiwei and Inua Ellams.
My friend and hero search-and-rescue worker Brendan met Doro during a rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea. He promised to help Doro share his story with the world, and together they wrote this book.
Brendan’s writing really touches me as someone who has had a similar experience and journey into working in refugee response, and this, along with Doro’s incredible story, makes for a very profound book.
So begins the extraordinary story of Doro Goumaneh, who faced an unimaginable series of adversities on his journey from persecution in The Gambia to refuge in France.
Doro was once a relatively prosperous fisherman, but in 2014, when the country's fishing rights were stolen and secret police began arresting Gambian fishermen, Doro left home, fleeing for his life. From Senegal to Libya to Algeria and back to Libya, Doro fell victim to the horrific cycle of abuse targeted at refugees. He endured shipwrecks, torture and being left for dead in a mass grave.…
I love to cook, and I love to eat. I love using food as a vehicle to tell stories.
This is a bustling, vibrant tour of 90 Syrian dishes celebrating the flavours of Syria that can easily be made in the comfort of your own home–the first cookbook from my friend Imad–a renowned chef from Damascus.
Complete with heartfelt stories, stunning photography, and beautiful illustrations, Imad's Syrian Kitchen features 90 sensational recipes celebrating the flavors of Syria.
This is the first cookbook by Imad Alarnab, a renowned chef from Damascus. Imad now runs an acclaimed restaurant in London, which was named GQ’s “Best Breakthrough Restaurant 2022.” Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is a bustling tour through 90 traditional and adapted Syrian dishes that can be made in the comfort of your own home. Imad introduces us to the delicious flavors and techniques of the Syrian kitchen. And alongside delicious recipes, mouthwatering photography, and beautiful illustrations, Imad shares the…
This book (despite being a novel, unlike my other recommendations) taught me so much about a migration route I was less familiar with.
Coming from the UK, my work has been naturally Europe-centric and focuses on migration routes from The Middle East and East Africa to Northern Europe.
This book highlights the journey of a family crossing Mexico to get to America, and it blew my mind. I couldn’t put it down and was so invested in the characters' safe arrival to their final destination.
*NOW A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME* 'Breathtaking... I haven't been so entirely consumed by a book for years' Telegraph 'I'll never stop thinking about it' Ann Patchett
FEAR KEEPS THEM RUNNING. HOPE KEEPS THEM ALIVE.
Vivid, visceral, utterly compelling, AMERICAN DIRT is an unforgettable story of a mother and son's attempt to cross the US-Mexico border. Described as 'impossible to put down' (Saturday Review) and 'essential reading' (Tracy Chevalier), it is a story that will leave you utterly changed.
Yesterday, Lydia had a bookshop. Yesterday, Lydia was married to a journalist. Yesterday, she was with everyone she loved…
Based on the popular podcast Asylum Speakers is a collection of 31 stories about migration, from those leaving everything they know behind them to those working alongside them.
Here are the voices that often go unheard: the humans behind the statistics and the headlines. From Syria to Venezuela, Eritrea to Afghanistan, this book transcends borders, nationalities, religions, and languages, connecting you to the people with whom we share this world.
Growing up in New England, my mother had a set of books that she kept in the living room, more for display than anything else. It was The Works of Edgar Allen Poe. I read them and instantly became hooked on horror. In the seventh grade, I entertained my friends at a sleepover by telling them the mysterious clanking noise (created by the baseboard heater) was the ghost of a woman who had once lived in the farmhouse, forced to cannibalize her ten children during a particularly bad winter. And I’ve been enjoying scaring people ever since.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunged off a waterfall to her death, leaving behind a legacy shrouded in secrets. Her great-niece Julia, a struggling journalist recovering from a divorce, seeks answers decades later.
Tasked with retrieving Dr. Greer’s discovery–a flower that could have world-changing properties–Julia unearths a story rife with hidden agendas and a missionary community unwilling to share the truth. As she confronts the eerie legends and a fellow traveler with his own motives, Julia finds that the longer she stays, the thinner the line between reality and the fantastical becomes until she…
From the award-winning author of Dead Souls and Poe comes an all-new bone-chilling novel where a mysterious island holds the terrifying answers to a woman's past and future.
In 1939, on a remote Pacific island, botanical researcher Irene Greer plunges off a waterfall to her death, convinced the spirits of her dead husband and daughter had joined the nightmarchers-ghosts of ancient warriors that rise from their burial sites on moonless nights. But was it suicide, or did a strange young missionary girl, Agnes, play a role in Irene's deteriorating state of mind?
