4 sessions, 7-8:30 pm:
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Click here to download the reading guide.
Fee: Free.
Registration: This discussion takes place via Zoom; advance registration required. Click here to register.
The Lynden/HOME Refugee Steering Committee book discussion group, moderated by Lynden’s Kim Khaira, is for those interested in firsthand accounts of displacement. We consider works of non-fiction and fiction, including autobiographical and semi-autobiographical works, by writers who have faced or are facing forced displacement as refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants. Where stories of persecution, historical trauma, and loss of livelihood are effortlessly conveyed by storytellers, journalists, and humanitarians who search out or stumble upon the lives of refugees, we seek out the words of those to whom these stories belong: the narrators who are the closest to their own stories, and the stories of their people, friends, family and, of course, refugees. In May, we will be embarking on a new book, Homeira Qaderi’s Dancing in the Mosque, translated by Zaman Stanizai. Newcomers welcome!
Dancing in the Mosque is an inspiring memoir about one mother’s unimaginable choice in the face of oppression and abuse in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Devastating in its power, Dancing in the Mosque is a mother’s searing letter to a son she was forced to leave behind. In telling her story—and that of Afghan women—Homeira challenges you to reconsider the meaning of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival. Her story asks you to consider the lengths you would go to protect yourself, your family, and your dignity.
Dr. Homeira Qaderi is a women’s rights activist originally from Afghanistan. She has published six books in Afghanistan and Iran, some of which have received prestigious awards. Dancing in the Mosque is her first book in English.
We encourage you to read each section in advance (see information below on acquiring the current book). Then join us for a virtual discussion moderated by Lynden’s Kim Khaira. The group meets monthly, and we seek the input of group members on titles to consider in the future.
As part of our HOME work at Lynden, we are making the book available without charge to book discussion group participants. If you would like us to purchase a copy of the book for you, please indicate this when completing the registration form. We will contact you when the book is available and you will be able to pick it up at the Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 West Brown Deer Road, Milwaukee, WI 53217.
If you prefer to support your local public library by borrowing the book, you can find Milwaukee County libraries here or other local libraries here. If you would like to purchase the book yourself, Boswell Books will be offering it at a 10% discount to book group participants. The book can be purchased at the store (you will find it among the book club selections) or on the Boswell website with the 10% book club discount already applied. We will post that link as soon as we have it. Please check Boswell’s website to check the availability of the book, and to confirm hours and delivery options.
PREVIOUS READINGS
Dina Nayeri's The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You January-February, 2021
Kao Kalia Yang's Somewhere in the Unknown World: A Collective Refugee Memoir March-May, 2021
Emmanuel Mbolela's Refugee: A Memoir June-August, 2021
The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives September-December, 2021
Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Admiring Silence January- April, 2022