We Are Here - Book Reading

“It was my absolute pleasure to introduce author/illustrator Kate Rafiq, reading her wonderful, powerful, incredibly moving children's book "We are here" at Stirchley Library yesterday. Refugees crossing the sea, small boats, and asylum seekers, these are such highly charged subjects, often kicked around as political footballs. This book, with its carefully chosen, beautifully constructed language, brings us back to the humanity and sheer vulnerability of a mother and child crossing the sea.

Everyone in the audience was palpably moved, and it was brilliant to take some lovely questions from children and adults alike. Thank you to Birmingham National Education Union for asking me to chair this event as part of Refugee Week.

As you can imagine, the author herself is brilliant. She has her own independent publishing company, and everything she does to promote her books comes from her own initiative. It was great to discuss the ways in which we could promote her book as teachers in our schools and colleges. She's also done a lot of other cool things, more than I can go into in this post, for fear of rambling, but do check out her social media pages and her other books - "The World is Your Masjid" and "Birmingham Boy".

Thank you Doug , from Stand Up to Racsim, who invited me to read and to @didi_kay93 for your lovely IG post!