Cirrus@Austlit

This anthology 'was begun by a group of asylum seekers sharing stories around the table at the Refugee Claimants Support Centre in Windsor, Brisbane. The asylum seekers were from countries like the Congo, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea and Pakistan. [...] The idea behind the book was to help people have a voice. And what powerful voices have emerged! There were no preconceptions about what might be written; people were invited to share anything they wanted, and there was no pressure to share what did not feel comfortable or safe. [...] There are indeed stories in this book of great suffering and loss. However there are also expressions of joy, love, tradition, family and home. Hopefully then, through these stories, we can come to see the people behind the label 'refugee' (From the Introduction, pp. 6-7).

The collection is arranged in sections titled 'Hoping,' 'Remembering,' 'Falling,' 'Relating,' 'Believing,' 'Sharing' and 'Nourishing' and includes poems, short stories, autobiographic prose and, in the final section, recipes.