Refugee Tales: Modern reboot of The Canterbury Tales to tell harrowing refugee stories
Writers Ali Smith and Patience Agbabi have contributed to the short story collection
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales have been given a modern reboot to share the harrowing real-life experiences of Europe’s refugees.
Refugee Tales will be published next week, featuring 14 short stories written by reputed authors including Ali Smith, Patience Agbabi and Chris Cleave.
The writers have collaborated with anonymous refugees and immigration workers to tell “compelling, shocking and truthful” stories based as closely as possible on actual events.
Stories among the collection include “The Detainee’s Tale”, about an orphaned human trafficking victim detained indefinitely by the Home Office after seeking help, and another about a 63-year-old man who finds himself “cast into the detention system” despite paying his taxes for 28 years after border officers receive a tip-off. The tales are intended to offer “rare, intimate glimpses into otherwise untold suffering” as many asylum seekers struggle with the frustration of being voiceless.
“These are not fictions. Nor are they testimonies from some distant, brutal past, but the frighteningly common experiences of Europe’s new underclass - its refugees,” says Manchester publisher Comma Press. “While those with ‘citizenship’ enjoy basic human rights (like the right not to be detained without charge for more than 14 days), people seeking asylum can be suspended for years in Kafka-esque uncertainty.
“Here, poets and novelists retell their stories of individuals who have direct experience of Britain’s policy of indefinite immigration detention. Presenting their accounts anonymously, as modern day counterparts to the pilgrim’s stories in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, this book offers rare, intimate glimpses into otherwise untold suffering.”
Refugee Tales arrives on 23 June, with all profits going to Kent Help for Refugees and the Gatwick Detainee Welfare Group. The latter charity organised a Dover to Crawley walk last summer, with the authors reading their stories at evening events. It will be repeated in July, from Canterbury to London, before ending with a series of events in the capital, including a music performance involving Billy Bragg and a reading of Shakespeare’s “Thomas More’s appeal for mercy in the treatment of refugees” by actor Jeremy Irons.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments