Voices of courage: Stories to read for World Refugee Day
Voices of courage: Stories to read for World Refugee Day
Globally, more than 117 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence, and persecution. While many leave behind livelihoods, possessions, and loved ones, they carry with them resilience, determination and dreams for a better future. This collection of memoirs, historical fiction, and poetry are more than stories; they show the talent and creativity that refugees contribute to their communities and to literature and culture.
As the world marks this year the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the cornerstone of refugee protection, we are reminded through these compelling stories that we all have a role to play in ensuring that millions will not be forgotten.
From an award-winning poet to an NBC News journalist, these stories are brimming with the strength and courage of refugees and forcibly displaced people.
While the Earth Sleeps We Travel: Stories, Poetry, and Art from Young Refugees Around the World by Ahmed M. Badr
A groundbreaking collection of poetry, personal narratives and art from refugee youth around the world, this anthology brings together the voices of young adults who have been forcibly displaced. The collection is an intimate look into these human stories to challenge stereotypes and highlight the perseverance of children growing up in almost impossible situations.
Ahmed M. Badr is an Iraqi American author, professor, and social entrepreneur. His work explores the complexities of migration, identity, and self-expression, with a focus on reframing and reclaiming the power of tragedy. As a teen, Ahmed founded Narratio, which runs an annual storytelling and leadership fellowship for resettled refugee youth in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is the Director of the Patricelli Center for Entrepreneurship and Assistant Professor of the Practice in Public Policy at Wesleyan University. Ahmed’s work has been exhibited at Juilliard, Harvard Divinity School, Yale Law School, UNICEF House, Christie's, and World Bank Headquarters, among others. He has been a supporter of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, since 2017.
Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph by Yusra Mardini
This remarkable memoir tells the story of a young Syrian refugee fleeing her war-torn country and her journey to becoming an Olympic athlete. Mardini reflects on her childhood in Damascus, training as a competitive swimmer and her experience fleeing the Syrian Civil War. She also highlights her family’s bravery and strength throughout the war and the role of swimming in her life. The memoir examines the hardship and resilience of refugees while advocating compassion towards forcibly displaced people around the world.
Yusra Mardini is a swimmer, writer and humanitarian from Damascus, Syria. In 2015, Yusra fled the Syrian Civil War and found refuge in Germany where she resumed her swimming career. She would go on to compete as part of the inaugural Refugee Olympic Team in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo in 2021. Mardini serves as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, using her platform to raise awareness. Her story continues to be a powerful symbol of resilience, courage, and potential for refugees around the world.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
This novel by critically acclaimed author Khaled Hosseini offers a powerfully emotional image of Afghan refugees through the lens of two women, Mariam and Laila. The novel intertwines decades of war, loss and oppression with the lives of Afghan women. Hosseini examines the love between mothers and daughters and how this bond strengthens and enables them to survive unbelievable circumstances.
Khaled Hosseini is an Afghan American refugee, New York Times bestselling author and humanitarian. Hosseini was just 14 years old living in Paris with his Afghan diplomat father when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Christmas Eve. The invasion forced his family to flee and find refuge in the United States. Hosseini’s novels center on the human experiences of Afghans and has helped bring their stories to an international stage. Hosseini is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and founder of the Khaled Hosseini Foundation which provides humanitarian aid to the Afghan people.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
In this critically acclaimed novel, Anthony Doerr presents an unflinching look at the experiences of internally displaced French citizens during World War II. The novel is told through the stories of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl, and Warner, a German orphan supporting the Nazis. The novel brings their stories close together, highlighting themes of struggle and displacement as well as how human connection can overcome hate. The novel examines what it means to live, witness, and resist brutal oppression.
Anthony Doerr is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author from Cleveland, Ohio. Doerr studied history at Bowdoin College before earning his master's in creative writing. His work has led him to become one of the most celebrated American authors of his generation with four O. Henry Awards and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Doerr is dedicated to shining a light on stories that embrace human curiosity, creativity and connection in the darkest of times.
Boat Baby by Vicky Nguyen
This autobiography by Vicky Nguyen tells the personal story of the Nguyen family and their escape from communist Vietnam. The memoir takes us through the family’s story as they encounter pirates, traverse refugee camps in Malaysia and survive hunger to eventually resettle in the United States. The novel details Nguyen’s experiences assimilating in the United States, as well as the familial and personal dynamics that shaped Nguyen into who she is today. The novel is an emotional homage and a love letter to her parents and the sacrifices they made to give her a better life.
Vicky Nguyen is a 14-time Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist and anchor with NBC News. Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam and fled the country when she was only eight months old. After resettling in Eugene, Oregon, Nguyen attended the University of San Francisco and earned a degree in communications. She would go on to work at local news stations across the country before joining NBC News as their chief consumer investigative correspondent. Her memoir, Boat Baby, is a national hit and New York Times bestseller.
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
This multi-generational saga details three characters - Ilyas, Afiya, and Hamza - as they live through the brutal impacts of imperialism in East Africa. Set in the seacoast village of Tanga, the novel shows us the daily lives and devastation suffered by the three characters living under colonization. The novel is a powerful mirror to colonialism and the intergenerational trauma that scars countries and civilians for decades.
Abdulrazak Gurnah is an award-winning author from Tanzania. Born to a Muslim and Arab family, Gurnah’s family faced ethnic and religious persecution in Tanzania forcing him to flee the country at eighteen years old. After finding safety in the United Kingdom, Gurnah would go on to lecture in English and postcolonial literatures at the University of Kent and later worked as a professor of literature at New York University in Abu Dhabi. Gurnah’s work on the legacy of colonialism and the refugee experience earned him global acclaim and the Nobel Prize in Literature for his novel Afterlives.
A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
This historical novel follows two characters, Victor and Roser, as they flee Spain during the Spanish Civil War and rebuild their lives in exile. Spanning several decades, the novel shows the daily losses and triumphs of these characters who are caught between the life they have left behind and the one they must create. The novel is an enduring story of perseverance and joy in the face of displacement and loss.
Isabel Allende is a New York Times best-selling Chilean American writer, refugee advocate and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Allende’s uncle was former Chilean President Salvador Allende, who was assassinated in 1973 in a military coup. Following the coup, Allende fled to Venezuela for her family’s safety and in exile would go on to write her first novel, The House of the Spirits. Allende is an advocate for refugee rights and remains committed to telling stories that highlight the struggle of displacement.
