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Dark Dreams Australian Refugee Stories by young writers aged 11–20 years PB 224 PP 210 x 135 1862546290 $19.95 Children and Young Adult Fiction and True Stories APN 9781862546295 Wakefield Press ‘Stories to melt the hardest heart.’ – Helen Garner ‘We have not been allowed to know the (recent) refugees as human beings . . . These stories change all that and force a personal response from the reader.’ – Phillip Adams Dark Dreams: Australian Refugee Stories is a unique anthology of essays, interviews, and stories written by children and young adults. The stories are the finest of hundreds collected through a nationwide schools competition in 2002. The essays and stories represent many different countries and themes. Some focus on survival, some on horrors, some on the experiences and alienation of a new world. This book will have a a key role to play in schools across Australia. Eva Sallis’s first novel Hiam won The Australian Vogel and the Dobbie Literary Awards. She is co-founder of Australians Against Racism and is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. Also available: No Place Like Home: Australian stories by young writers aged 8–21 years Related titles: |
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‘. . . a collection of heart-felt, insightful and often highly accomplished pieces of journalism.’ – Sonya Hartnett, Australian Book Review ‘The stories are wide-ranging and powerful. But at the centre is the simple truth that refugees are courageous people and the political structures that deny them basic human rights are abhorrent. Every Australian should read this book. It is a vital contribution to our country’s complex moral history.’ – Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald ‘These salutary tales, told by young refugees or by older refugees to young people, have a purity and an appealing lack of artifice . . . What is most moving is the unadulterated admiration and lack of scepticism that emerges, so rare in mainstream media portrayals of immigrants.’ – Anne Susskind, The Bulletin ‘. . . this moving, illuminating, extraordinary collection is filled with the faces we have been denied.’ – Katharine England, Advertiser ‘. . . you honestly cannot help but be emotionally affected by this book.’ – CheatSheet ‘I read the essays with curiosity and a great deal of emotion. They would melt the hardest heart. The real treasures are the stories told by young refugees themselves, and by the children of people who fled to Australia a generation ago. Some of the more recent arrivals here have struggled with a language not their own, and have produced stories we will never be able to forget.’ – Helen Garner ‘To read this collection has been an experience both painful and rewarding. The accounts which communicate the traumatic events sear us with their authenticity and their humanity. From Holocaust survivors, Vietnamese boat people on to contemporary refugees fleeing oppression in Afghanistan or Iraq, Sri Lanka or Africa, these are accounts we must heed, and learn from.’ – Tom Shapcott ‘We have not been allowed to know the (recent) refugees as human beings – as men, women and children, as mothers and husbands, sons and daughters. These stories change all that and force a personal response from the reader. What a pity Australia’s bigots can’t be persuaded to read these accounts. It might, just might, make them more understanding and compassionate.’ – Phillip Adams ‘Many contributors spoke of their newfound realisation of the plight of the refugee. Some wrote of their own family members, others went to extraordinary lengths to meet strangers and hear their stories. In every case, the hearing of that story, first hand, had a profound effect on the listener. The strength of the contributions is very heartening, holding out hope that through the children of this country we may see our nation develop in a compassionate, inclusive and responsible way.’ – Meme McDonald and Libby Gleeson |
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