After a stimulating Perth Writers Festival I joined writers Thomas Keneally, Rosie Scott, Debra Adelaide, Linda Jaivin, David Marr, Antony Loewenstein, and publisher Terri-Ann White at the Perth candlelight vigil for Reza Berati, the young Iranian asylum seeker who was tragically killed on Manus Island. It was an understandably emotional event, as I'm sure were … Continue reading Light the Dark: Perth vigil for Reza Berati and asylum seekers
refugees
Treasures from the past: Belinda Castles on Hannah and Emil
Belinda Castles is the author of Falling Woman and The River Baptists (for which she won the 2006 Australian/Vogel Award). Her latest novel is Hannah and Emil, which traces two characters across Europe, the UK and Australia and charts their complex struggles, and the love that pulls them through. Emil fights for Germany in WWI but is forced from his … Continue reading Treasures from the past: Belinda Castles on Hannah and Emil
Home and Away – John Marsden & Matt Ottley
Lothian, 2008, 9780734410566 (Australia) This is my picture book of 2008 - a poignant and necessary story of an ordinary Australian family who find themselves in the midst of a war, and as refugees, are placed in a detention camp. The book is heartbreaking, and older kids should read it. Yes, it will make them … Continue reading Home and Away – John Marsden & Matt Ottley