Refuge #26 The last scene

Sabah, an Iraqi playwright, describes the last scene of violence his family witnessed enroute to Jordan, where they hoped to apply for asylum to Australia.

Refuge #25 A playwright and his chess-playing daughter

After the ousting of Saddam Hussein, an Iraqi playwright is blacklisted and his daughter, a chess champion, is told not to visit the chess centre anymore.

What do we have in common?

“It’s bad to say goodbye in my language; instead, we say ‘see you later’,” said the Aboriginal lady to me, teaching me an Aboriginal word, which...

The first sentence

‘Trying to write before you’re ready is like trying to squeeze toothpaste out of an empty tube,’ I wrote in exasperation after I allowed yet another day to...

Reality check

‘You no-good scribbler. Yes, I know who you are. I have seen your columns, God help us. I have read your foolish stories, may my enemies be so clever.’ And so, I...

Teleporting

I raided my local library and met Australian reporter Lynne O’Donnell. That is, I read her book. ‘High Tea in Mosul’ is the result of O’Donnell’s...

Slow cooking the story

I tried to write Sabah and Lamia’s story but nothing worked. I tried to imagine what it was like in their home in Baghdad but I could not conjure up sounds or smells or...

Ancient civilisations meet

When I drove across Adelaide for my first interview with Sabah and Lamia from Iraq, I had fanciful ideas about 5000 years of Chinese civilisation meeting 5000 years of...

The American invasion and chess

“The circumstances in our country are very difficult; this difficulty comes from the Americans invading my country because everything was destroyed after the invasion....