15 min Read Now
What Breaks
A Palestinian girl growing up in suburban Ohio is proud to receive an A- on her 9th grade genocide report. Later, grown up, she asks Can a fact be sad? I wish to know.
Displacement
21 min Read Now
Escaping Moria
Karima Qias was seventeen years old when her family arrived at the Moria refugee camp, on Lesvos Island, Greece. She knew immediately that they had to get out to survive, and this is how they did it.
19 min Read Now
Protecting the forest is a responsibility of all of humanity
Protecting the forest is a responsibility that is not only of the Indigenous peoples, not only of the Huni Kui people. Protecting the forest, protecting biodiversity, is a responsibility of all of humanity.
15 min Watch Now
The Body Speaks: “Wonderland”
Turkish artist Erkan Özgen documents a deaf, mute Syrian boy telling the story of what happened to him and others during the war in Syria.
36 min Read Now
Plaza Girls — a diary
In this addendum to the 14th piece in the Polity of Literature series the British film-maker Chloe Ruthven recalls her work helping teenage Afghani refugees make and circulate their own zine, Plaza Girls.
18 min Read Now
Refugee Zines
Lacking other resources, refugees and others on the move often use writing and reading together to site their politics. ArtsEverywhere editor Siddhartha Joag surveys some examples, from Myanmar to Uganda to Norway and Greece.
26 min Read Now
Refugee on Trial: The Hole in the Donut
Artists can stage the encounter of the state with the refugees it presumes to judge. In this searching personal essay, Niels Bekkema, a Dutch artist working with the Polity of Literature series, recalls some of the ways that art and justice intersect and shed light on one another.
29 min Read Now
How the State Reads Queer Refugees
This addendum to the 10th piece in the Polity of Literature series describes the unique challenges of queer refugees telling their stories to bureaucrats who do not understand them.
35 min Read Now
Refugees Tell Their Stories to the State
When refugees arrive in Europe they must tell their stories to state bureaucrats who control their fate. But is the state capable of hearing what they have to say?
23 min Read Now
Translating Manus and Nauru: Refugee Writing
In 2013, when Australia began to detain refugees in off-shore prisons on Manus and Nauru islands, concerned Australians tried to help those held captive get their stories out. One, a recent immigrant from Iran called Moones Mansoubi, recalls that time and the talented writers she was able to help.
43 min Read Now
Prison Books in the Time of Refugees
Refugees are often treated like prisoners, yet their stories differ. The editor of the Polity of Literature series surveys recent and past books from both refugees and prisoners to discover the unique insights opened up when refugees begin to write and publish.
7 min Read Now
You Can’t Hug Grandma Anymore: Bugs, Borders and Covid in Benin
A journalist offers insight on the COVID-19 response in Africa, while struggling to explain social distancing to her young daughter.