• Home
• About the Project
• News and events
• Writers' Gallery
• Glocal Imaginaries
• Exhibitions
• The team
• Publications
• Links
• Contact & Mailing List

Migration Stories filmed by Literature Northwest

Literature Northwest filmed a set of Manchester readings recently for YouTube, and some of them featured readings from Migration Stories, Crocus Books, March 2010 (180 pages, £5.99, ISBN 9780946745234)

Muli Amaye          Kim Wiltshire          Maya Choudry          Sue Stern

Migration Stories

"As the globe shrinks, modern armed conflict, natural disasters and global economic imbalances have had their impact on every nation of the world, including Britain.

"In Migration Stories sixteen writers from a broad range of backgrounds have told sixteen short stories - stories that startle, inform and engage.

"Migration Stories is a fantastic collection of short fiction that gets right under the skin of the experience and what it means for individuals. It tells stories that are rarely heard, whether they be set inside a grotty bedsit, a container making its way to the UK, or a dance class offering an emotional outlet to a person cut off from their family ties. The stories in this book are shocking and matter of fact at the same time: they do not over dramatise migration, but tell it how it is, with frequent moments of brutality and oppression, particularly by those who hold the purse strings, such as The Undertaker or the wealthy Afghan, Khan Mohammad and his men. The themes that lift the tone of the book are the triumph of the capacity to survive and the ability for the protagonists to hope for better things to come. These have been the motivations for migrations for a long time, but are brought to life in this collection. A memorable phrase stands out for me from Martin De Mello's story: the protagonist says 'In the land of crocodiles you must act like a crocodile' in a seedy nightclub watching a woman dance for the audience. Within the covers of this book the migrants frequently to try and work out who to trust and who might be lurking under the surface of the water." (Anne Caldwell)

Available from Amazon; enquiries to crocus@cultureword.org.uk

Muli Amaye

Reads from 'The Dance' from Migration Stories on You Tube

Kim Wiltshire

Reads from 'The Rose Seller' from Migration Stories on YouTube

Maya Choudry

Reads from 'The Seamtress and the Golbal Garment' from Migration Stories on YouTube

Sue Stern

Reads 'How I Broke Mama's Commandments' from Migration Stories on YouTube