Oil Painting titled "They are Burning the Olive Trees," by Lina Zawati
Forms of Displacement: Oral History, Poetry, and Testimony of Displacement
This book-project reads interviews with refugees and displaced subjects of recent migration crises against poetry that addresses such human movement. Featuring theoretically informed commentary on a self- curated collection of interviews with refugees from Syria, Palestine, and Africa, this project asks what "home" means to these "placeless people" who left their homes under the assumption that their displacement would be temporary. How do the displaced make themselves at "home" in supposedly temporary settings? How do they sense lost homes when they create new homes? This work ultimately aims to faciliate understanding between worlds of the developed and the developing; the settled and the rootless, revealing the universal in definitions of home. Interpreting oral histories as literary and cultural contributions to ongoing studies of space/place, kinship, care, ethics, and home, this work of creative nonfiction speaks to both academic and popular audiences.
This book project has been generously supported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (2021-2022).
This book project has been generously supported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship (2021-2022).
Synchronous Fireflies: Conversations with the New York School
This collection of interviews offers a space for the New York School poets to say who they are and what they meant and mean, on their own terms. Complete and awaiting 2023 publication
Making Home Away: A Digital Archive
An archive showcasing the ways in which Syrian refugees make themselves at home in temporary spaces of displacement. Funded by the British Academy. www.makinghomeaway.com
How to Wait: What Refuges Teach us about Life in Waiting
This work of creative non fiction reflects on seven years of research in refugee camps.
The Poetry Sanctuary: Community Engagement Project
This creative arts project offers poetry writing workshops to refugees living in displacement. For more on the evolving project, see here.
Network for New York School Studies: Co-Founder and Co-Curator
Alongside Dr. Rona Cran, I have co-launched the Network for New York School Studies. This network began with the 2018 symposium in Birmingham. The creation of this association will take place from 2021-2024, and is funded by an AHRC Research Networking grant.
