Putting People First

Join us at the Brighton Book Festival for 'Putting People First,' a poignant celebration of the voices of refugees and displaced individuals. In a time where their narratives often go unheard, we prioritize showcasing the legacy they wish to share with the world. Prepare to be moved as we listen to their remarkable stories of joy, heartbreak, and unwavering courage.

22nd June 3.30pm

Sheikha Helawy (she/her) is a Palestinian author who grew up in a now-forgotten Bedouin village near Haifa. She is a writer and lecturer in Arab Feminism at Ben Gurion University, and is currently working on her PhD. She has written five short short collections, one of which won the best short story book award in the Arab world 2019-2020. Her latest short story collection, They Fell Like Stars From the Sky & Other Stories, celebrates the courage, resilience and triumphs of Bedouin Palestinian women and girls, translated from the Arabic by Nancy Roberts with illustrations throughout by Anna Morrison.

Majid Adin is an artist and animator from Iran, now living in West Hampstead. He was forced to leave his home country, having been briefly imprisoned and politically exiled from Tehran after his blog upset the regime. He journeyed through Europe, spent several months in the Calais ‘jungle’, and after many attempts to make the crossing, finally arrived in the UK in a refrigerated van on 20th April 2016, coinciding with celebrations for Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary. In 2017 he won a competition to produce an animation for a music video to illustrate Elton John’s song ‘Rocket Man’. Hamid and Shakespeare is created in collaboration with award-winning theatre company Good Chance.

Our Sponsor - The Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research
The Brighton Book Festival is grateful to the Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research at the University of Sussex for sponsoring this event. Life history and life writing research uses life story - whether in the form of oral history, personal narrative, autobiography or biography - as a primary source for the study of history and culture. Life history and life writing researchers present their work in many forms. As well as academic publications, they contribute to radio and television documentaries, auto/biographical drama, reminiscence work, digital and video presentations and exhibitions. Life history and life writing research is, of necessity, concerned with ethics and power relationships, and with the potential for advocacy and empowerment.