ATHENS: The brightly colored minivan that pulls into Athens’ food market, drawing a group of refugees around it, is not carrying something edible.
The contents — hundreds of books — are there to satisfy a different sort of hunger.
For tens of thousands of refugees stuck in Greece for the past two years after European states shut their borders in rapid succession, survival is no longer an issue.
Instead, boredom and creeping despair about their future are their new enemies as they wait for months, even years, for their applications to relocate elsewhere in Europe to be processed.
Now, at least two separate initiatives have emerged to help refugees fill the long hours of their day.
One of them is Echo Refugee Library — a minivan fitted with shelves carrying over 1,000 books that does a weekly round of refugee camps in the greater Athens area, plus poorer districts of the capital where many refugees live in UN-rented flats.
The goal of the initiative is to “make culture accessible to all,” says Esther Ten Zijthoff, 25, the Dutch-American coordinator of the project.
The books — in English, Greek, French, Arabic, Kurdish and Farsi — have been provided by benefactors in Greece, Belgium, Britain and Lebanon or purchased with money donated online.
Ali, a 26-year-old Syrian, is among those who never misses a delivery at the food market.
“I really love having something to read. It does me good,” he tells AFP, an Agatha Christie novel under his arm.
The English mistress of the whodunit is proving a top draw for refugees, says Zijthoff.
“The mystery and romance present in her stories are well-liked by Arab speakers. We would like to have her whole collection.”
Language dictionaries are also in demand, with many readers borrowing them to photocopy and keep close at hand.
In another part of the city center, a similar initiative draws Syrian and Afghan refugees to the offices of We Need Books, a volunteer group formed last year that also gives language classes in Arabic and French.
We Need Books has the largest collection of Farsi books in Athens, including over 150 sent directly from Afghanistan, says co-founder Ioanna Nissiriou.
Here, the most popular book is Arabian Nights. The sole copy in Farsi, delivered in June, is already in tatters, she notes with pleasure.
“Initially our goal was to help refugees escape through literature. But now we also seek to educate the children and help them integrate,” says Nissiriou, a 38-year-old former journalist.
Seated on a brightly-colored pouffe, 16-year-old Zahra from Afghanistan has just discovered the works of iconic Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis, author of Zorba the Greek and the Last Temptation of Christ.
“I like this book because it’s a new culture for me,” she says whilst poring through Nikos Kazantzakis’s Odyssey, a sequel to Homer’s classic opus.
“But my favorite is the Tales of the Brothers Grimm, which is similar to faerie tales I used to read as a child,” the young Afghan says.
Books to go: bringing literature to refugees stuck in Greece
Books to go: bringing literature to refugees stuck in Greece
What We Are Reading Today: Henry V by Dan Jones
In 1413, when Henry V ascended to the English throne, his kingdom was hopelessly torn apart by political faction but in less than ten years, he turns it all around. By common consensus in his day, and for hundreds of years afterward, Henry was the greatest medieval king that ever lived.
A historical titan, Henry V transcends the Middle Ages which produced him, and his life story has much to teach us today.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Following the Bend’ by Ellen Wohl
When we look at a river, either up close or while flying over a river valley, what are we really seeing?
“Following the Bend” takes readers on a majestic journey by water to find answers, along the way shedding light on the key concepts of modern river science, from hydrology and water chemistry to stream and wetland ecology.
In this accessible and uniquely personal book, Ellen Wohl explains how to “read” a river, blending the latest science with her own personal experiences as a geologist and naturalist who has worked on rivers for more than three decades.
UK writer Samantha Harvey wins 2024 Booker with space novel
- The prize is seen as a talent spotter of names not necessarily widely known to the general public
LONDON: British writer Samantha Harvey on Tuesday won the 2024 Booker Prize, a prestigious English-language literary award, for her novel tracking six astronauts in space for 24 hours.
Harvey’s “Orbital” follows two men and four women from Japan, Russia, the United States, Britain and Italy aboard the International Space Station and touches on mourning, desire and the climate crisis.
The 49-year-old Harvey previously made the longlist for the Booker Prize in 2009 with her debut novel “The Wilderness.”
Harvey dedicated the prize to “all the people who speak for and not against the earth and work for and not against peace.”
Chair of the judges, Edmund de Waal, said “everyone and no one is the subject” of the novel, “as six astronauts in the International Space Station circle the earth observing the passages of weather across the fragility of borders and time zones.”
“With her language of lyricism and acuity Harvey makes our world strange and new for us.”
A record five women were in the running for the £50,000 ($64,500) prize which was announced at a glitzy ceremony in London.
Previous winners include Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood.
The prize is seen as a talent spotter of names not necessarily widely known to the general public.
The Booker is open to works of fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK or Ireland between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Dragonflies and Damselflies of the World’ by Klass-Douwe B. Dijkstra
Airily dancing over rivers and ponds, the thousands of colorful dragonfly and damselfly species that cohabit our planet may seem of little importance.
Few life-forms, however, convey the condition of the most limiting resource on land and life’s most bountiful environment as well as they can: While the adults are exceptional aerial hunters, their nymphs are all confined to freshwater.
“Dragonflies and Damselflies of the World” showcases their beauty and diversity while shedding light on how they evolved into the vital symbols of planetary health we celebrate today.
Emirates Airline Festival of Literature announces 2025 lineup
DUBAI: The Emirates Literature Foundation has revealed the speaker lineup and programme details for the upcoming Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2025, officially marking the countdown to the 17th edition of the event. Set to take place from Jan. 29 to Feb. 3, 2025 at the newly renovated InterContinental Dubai Festival City, the LitFest will offer attendees over 150 incomparable experiences, including fan-favourites: Desert Stanzas, LitFest After Hours, Discovery Talks, and the LitFest Families programme.
Leading the list of authors is US-Indian writer and Stanford University professor Abraham Verghese, author of “The Covenant of Water,” which rose to fame when it was chosen for Oprah Winfrey’s book club.
Other anticipated names include Emmy Award-winning journalist Hala Gorani, the best-selling author and illustrator of the wildly popular “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series Jeff Kinney, multi-talented author and screenwriter Daniel Handler (also known as Lemony Snicket, creator of “A Series of Unfortunate Events”), Booker Prize-nominated author Chigozie Obioma, best-selling travel writer and author Dr Mohamed Mansi Qandil, scholar and researcher Abdel Illah Benarafa, Cultural Personality of the Year Waciny Laredj, poet and author Khalid Albudoor, and celebrated Palestinian chef and cookbook author Fadi Kattan.
Closer to home, Saudi author Faisal J. Abbas will talk about his new book, “Anecdotes of an Arab Anglophile,” a witty and thoughtful take on what it is like being an Arab in London.
“As we navigate a world of uncertainty and change, the Emirates LitFest serves as a vital platform for dialogue, understanding, and reflection,” said Ahlam Bolooki, CEO of Emirates Literature Foundation, Director of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, and Managing Director of ELF Publishing.
“Global conversations around identity and culture have never been more crucial, and we are honoured to welcome literary icons from across the globe whose works speak to the heart of these issues. Through our Festival’s dynamic programme, sessions that are set to inspire future generations and events that celebrate our shared experiences, we are building a community based on empathy and understanding. Now, more than ever, we need stories that connect us to our shared humanity, and the Emirates LitFest is where those stories happen” she added.
Dubai Culture is sponsoring this year’s Emirati Strand, which celebrates the culture of the UAE and provides an opportunity for Emirati and international authors to grace the Emirates LitFest stage together. The Emirati Strand features a diverse range of experiences and a distinguished line-up of Emirati writers including poet Adel Khozam, Dr Noura Alkarbi, artist Asmaa Al-Remithi, poet Ali Al-Shaali, author and scholar Salha Ghabish, author and trainer Hamdan Bin Shfayan Alameri, author Nadia Al Najjar, filmmaker Nahla Al Fahad, and many more.
“With everything going on in the world, now more than ever, we need stories. We need human connection. We need to come together in the ‘sanctuary of dreams’ … which the festival offers,” Tamreez Inam, head of programming, told Arab News.
“The festival welcomes people who want to dream and imagine a world that celebrates our shared humanity and offers a place where people can tell their own stories, find themselves in other stories and connect at that very human level. And I think that’s why the 2025 festival is so important; it’s needed more than ever now,” she added.
Dania Droubi, the festival’s chief operating officer, revealed that the event will also host an international youth program.
“We have 150 university students from around the world coming to participate in our program, and they are going to be here in Dubai,” she said.
“They’re all students who speak Arabic and who study Arabic. They are going to be here to meet with another 150 from the UAE-based universities, and they’re here to attend and see the authors and the speakers … and just participate in these discussions, because the youth are the future.”
For information on the full programme and tickets, visit https://emirateslitfest.com.
