asylum – Isobel Blackthorn

Narrative as Navigation Through the Self: Isobel Blackthorn’s Asylum

(‘Narrative as Navigation Through the Self: Isobel Blackthorn’s Asylum’ by Ness Mercieca was originally published in the October 2015 edition of The Tertangala) They say the mind does not create, and that it only cuts and pastes the stimulus it receives from the outside world. Author Isobel Blackthorn has a talent for this, in fact, I oftenContinue reading “Narrative as Navigation Through the Self: Isobel Blackthorn’s Asylum”

Don’t stop the boats, stop the injustice

I tried to watch Go Back to Where You Came From on SBS last night, but when they got to the border camp in Jordan, where 200 of the 4 million-and-rising refugees fleeing Syria arrive by the day, I welled up. Every time I picture the camps I cry. Appearing in my newsfeed a littleContinue reading “Don’t stop the boats, stop the injustice”

Colonisation in Reverse

Louise Bennett (1919-2006) I’m sharing a poem I first came across in the 80s when I was studying a course with the Open University, UK, called, ‘Third World Studies.’ It was a brilliant multidisciplinary introduction to the North South divide. Hats off to the OU for that seminal moment in my life. The 80s seemContinue reading “Colonisation in Reverse”

Silencing the lambs: Asylum seekers are a metaphor for our times

On Line Opinion have just published my latest piece on asylum seekers, for which I am very grateful. The photo here sums up my belief in what Australians are capable of. If this many can gather behind a banner in a tiny village in the middle of a wilderness, then we can only imagine theContinue reading “Silencing the lambs: Asylum seekers are a metaphor for our times”

Asylum Reviews

Today I found two reviews of Asylum on NetGalley which I just had to share! The first is by Tanya Brough – “Have you ever felt like just dropping everything and running far, far away? To perhaps an island? That is what Yvette Grimm did. She ran from her life in Malta and herContinue reading “Asylum Reviews”

Asylum seekers: confronting the double face

There are two faces to Australia’s asylum seeker policy. There is the outward face, all smiles and hooded eyes, that espouses ‘stop the boats’ mantras to indoctrinate the masses. We are to be persuaded of the necessity for harsh, inhumane treatment of asylum seekers journeying by boat. We are to disregard these peoples’ basic humanContinue reading “Asylum seekers: confronting the double face”

Asylum seekers are not a problem: they’re people

With thousands of asylum seekers and refugees in the Straits of Malacca, crammed into boats without food and water, rejected by country after country and towed back out to sea, the desperation of vast numbers of people scrambling to reach safer shores could not be starker. They may be fleeing terror. They may be fleeingContinue reading “Asylum seekers are not a problem: they’re people”

Welcome to Australia

I woke this morning at about five o’clock to the sound of cock crows and magpie chortles, knowing that my third piece, Welcome to Australia, would appear in On Line Opinion today. It’s a controversial piece and in the pre-dawn darkness I feared some would misread it and accuse me of being anti-Australian. Then I thoughtContinue reading “Welcome to Australia”