SSP hosts launch event for 'the other side of hope'

A magazine written and edited by migrants launched its fourth issue at a special event hosted by the School of Sociology and Social Policy.

the other side of hope: journeys in refugee and immigrant literature is a UK-based literary magazine established in 2021 that features refugee and immigrant writers from across the world. Issues are published biannually, with one issue published in English and one in other languages with English translations. Over 2,500 copies have been donated to refugee centres, hotels with new arrivals and public libraries of sanctuary. It is also the UK’s first ever literary magazine of Sanctuary, accredited by City of Sanctuary UK.

In December, the magazine launched its fourth issue, which includes 9 short stories, 20 poems, 7 non-fiction pieces, and poems, prose and artworks from the Debordering Futures conference at the University of Cambridge.

Readings were given by contributors to the issue and the editors led a discussion on producing a literary magazine.

Temitayo Olofinlua, a writer and editor based in Birmingham, read a short story, Cat-a-stro-phe!, that explores the anxieties experienced by new migrants when coming to another country. The inspiration for the piece came from a video created by a Nigerian migrant on the first time she properly cried in Britain. Other themes explored in the story include the consideration of a child’s rights versus animal rights and the clashes between different cultures that can occur.

I thought to write a humourous story because where I come from there is a saying: ‘B'órò bá ti kojá ekún, èrín laa fi n rín’ which translates to ‘When a matter is beyond crying, you start laughing.’ I hoped humour would be a good vehicle to draw attention to important issues.

Dr Khawla Badwan, a Palestinian-British academic, read two poems that feature in the latest issue. They consider the ongoing conflict in Gaza and provide the opportunity to reflect on the situation as it has unfolded. Dr Badwan shares her poetry, or poetic cries, daily on her social media platforms. She has found that they give readers the opportunity ‘to connect the self to a world in ruins’. Dr Badwan recently published a poetry anthology, Keep Telling of Gaza, co-authored with Professor Alison Phipps and published by Sidhe Press, which was listed among the books that contribute to Sustainable Development Goal No. 16 on promoting justice and peace.

The launch event was an opportunity to explore the role of poetry in responding to challenges and injustices in our times. I am grateful to the organisers for creating a space for telling of Gaza as part of this event. As we move forward, we need language and education, to educate, to capacitate, to imagine a merciful world and to raise awareness about this iconic struggle of 76 years for justice and freedom in Palestine.

SSP postgraduate research student, Daniela Nicolaescu, read a selection of poems from her book, Hyperboréen. This collection of autobiographical poetry was written across a decade in Romania, Italy, France and England and explores the impact that personal and collective crises, such as her mother’s cancer diagnosis and the COVID-19 pandemic, had on her.

Through simple, visceral, and often surreal imagery, I explore what it means to be human in a post-pandemic world. What does it mean to lose or inhabit a language, a home, or a body, to live in the in-between, to move through both physical and mental spaces? How do you shape your identity in the multitude, fluidity, and imagi(nation)? How do you shape the void and forgetfulness? How do you remember your personal history?

Other speakers at the launch event included: Abdul Raouf Qureshi, Birgit Friedrich, Carolina Christevelyn Pay, Kerning, Maria Rovisco, and Mike Baynham.

For further information about the other side of hope, contact Dr Maria Rovisco, m.rovisco@leeds.ac.uk. the other side of hope can be found on Bluesky @othersidelitmag.bsky.social