Monthly Archives: December 2017

Books of the year

I love this time of the year when you can sink into a good book. Depending on where you are in the world, you could be reading in your deck chair in the summer garden or snuggled up in your favourite chair by the fire. I’m really looking forward to taking a break from work and study and some guilt-free reading time

As the year comes to a close it can be a time for reflection, regardless of your culture or religion. I’ve been thinking about the many interesting and inspiring books I have read this year and wanted to give you some recommendations. It’s hard to pick the best but I have chosen two fiction and two non-fiction books for your summer/winter reading list or as a Christmas gift suggestion.

Fiction

Shokoofeh Azar’s The Enlightenement of the Greengage Tree is an introduction to the wonderful world of magical realism and I highly recommend this for a different reading experience.

This year I re-read an old favourite and thought I would include it. Café Scheherazade by Arnold Zable traces the experience of Jewish survivors whose lives reflect the courage of refugees everywhere.   Arnold is one of my favourite authors – a master story teller.

Non- fiction

City Of Thorns by Ben Rawlence is my stand out book for the year.   It traces nine lives in the world’s largest refugee camp, Dadaab in Kenya. It is haunting and at the same time inspiring.   I was lucky enough to meet and interview Ben at this year’s Perth Writers Festival.

Not Quite Australian by Peter Mares is easy to read and informative at the same time.  I learnt so much from this book. Peter discusses how temporary migration is changing Australia. Did you know there are more than a million temporary migrants living in Australia today? Case studies, personal stories and supporting data are compelling in this book.

There are so many more books and I am sure you have your own favourites… I’d love to hear from you about your list. 

Season’s greetings to all and happy reading.

P.S. I am really looking forward to a new release called The Power of Good People – surviving Sri Lanka’s Civil War by Para Paheer with Alison Corke.

 

 

Human rights begin close to home

Eleanor Roosevelt HRD“Where after all do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (pictured), chair of the drafting committee of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, said these words 70 years ago when the Declaration was launched. She went on to say unless these rights have meaning close to home they will have little meaning anywhere else.   This is surely something on which to reflect during International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2017.

This is a milestone document that proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property birth or other status. The United Nations General Assembly adopted the declaration in 1948. It is the most translated document in the world available in more than 500 languages. There’s more information on the United Nations website.

Wherever you are – there will be all sorts of events to recognise the day.   I’ll be attending a meeting at the Centre for Stories to discuss forming a Western Australian chapter of PEN, which is the worldwide association of writers that emphasises the role of literature in mutual understanding and world culture. PEN is also concerned with opposing restraints of freedom of expression and working to promote literacy itself.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights empowers us all and reminds us of what we all have in common – our humanity. The principles enshrined in the Declaration are as relevant today as they were in 1948. We need to stand up for our own rights and those of others.

 

UDHR Poster idea C2