news & updates
November 2024
Being Human Festival
An evening of readings, performances and short talks celebrating the creativity and insights of migrant authors over the centuries.
Being Human Festival
An evening of readings, performances and short talks celebrating the creativity and insights of migrant authors over the centuries.
Zero Carbon
Guildford
GU1 3HW
Friday 8 November 2024
6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Free, but ticketed
Book HERE
This University of Surrey event is part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, featuring, amongst others, our editor, Rubina Cuka-Smalley, and our contributors, Arbër Qerka-Gashi and Anitha Sundararajan.
Guildford
GU1 3HW
Friday 8 November 2024
6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Free, but ticketed
Book HERE
This University of Surrey event is part of Being Human Festival, the UK’s national festival of the humanities, featuring, amongst others, our editor, Rubina Cuka-Smalley, and our contributors, Arbër Qerka-Gashi and Anitha Sundararajan.
November 2024
Southbank Centre
Special Edition: The Other Side of Hope
Southbank Centre
Special Edition: The Other Side of Hope
National Poetry Library
Southbank Centre
London
Wednesday 6 November 2024, 8pm
Tickets from £7
Book HERE
Readings from some of our latest contributors
Anitha Sundararajan
Arbër Qerka-Gashi
Fatemeh Takht-Keshian
Irina Cristache-Taylor
Maria Cohut
Shereen Pandit
and young writers from Young Roots will also read from their contributions to the latest issue of The Other Side of Hope magazine.
Southbank Centre
London
Wednesday 6 November 2024, 8pm
Tickets from £7
Book HERE
Readings from some of our latest contributors
Anitha Sundararajan
Arbër Qerka-Gashi
Fatemeh Takht-Keshian
Irina Cristache-Taylor
Maria Cohut
Shereen Pandit
and young writers from Young Roots will also read from their contributions to the latest issue of The Other Side of Hope magazine.
October 2024
some of our contributors from the issue 4.1
some of our contributors from the issue 4.1
October 2024
our 4.1 print issue is now out
our 4.1 print issue is now out
PRINT ISSUE
out October 2024
£9 plus p&p || 172 pages || softback || perfect bound
featuring refugee & immigrant writers from around the world
fiction || poetry || non-fiction || artworks
9 short stories, 20 poems, 7 non-fiction pieces, and poems, prose & artworks
from the Debordering Futures conference at the University of Cambridge
out October 2024
£9 plus p&p || 172 pages || softback || perfect bound
featuring refugee & immigrant writers from around the world
fiction || poetry || non-fiction || artworks
9 short stories, 20 poems, 7 non-fiction pieces, and poems, prose & artworks
from the Debordering Futures conference at the University of Cambridge
September 2024
our nominations for Best of the Net
our nominations for Best of the Net
August 2024
Our editor, Amir Darwish, talks to Sinéad Mangan-Mc Hale from Together in the UK
Our editor, Amir Darwish, talks to Sinéad Mangan-Mc Hale from Together in the UK
read Amir's interview HERE
July 2024
new book by Timea Sipos, one of our previous contributors
new book by Timea Sipos, one of our previous contributors
Poetry, chapbook, 28 pages, from Bottlecap Features
"The poems in The Shapes Our Tongues Make track how I gradually became disillusioned with my life in America while falling madly, desperately, hopelessly in love with my birth city of Budapest.
I was born to two Hungarian parents in the 9th district of Pest and did not speak a word of English when we immigrated to the U.S. while I was in the first grade—first to Los Angeles, then to Las Vegas four years later. I spent most of my summers in the Hungarian countryside growing up, so I kept the language, but quickly lost my connection to my true hometown."
Timea Sipos is a Hungarian American author and translator with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A former Steinbeck Fellow and winner of the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival Fiction Contest, her work has received support from MacDowell, the Vermont Studio Center, Tin House, the Black Mountain Institute, and PEN America, among others. She has published with Prairie Schooner, Denver Quarterly, The Florida Review, Waxwing, and more. Her translation of Kinga Tóth’s poetry collection Írmag/Offspring appeared in 2020 with YAMA Art and her translation of Márton Simon’s poetry collection Songs for 3:45 AM appeared in 2021 with The Offending Adam Press. Learn more about her work at www.timeasipos.com
"The poems in The Shapes Our Tongues Make track how I gradually became disillusioned with my life in America while falling madly, desperately, hopelessly in love with my birth city of Budapest.
I was born to two Hungarian parents in the 9th district of Pest and did not speak a word of English when we immigrated to the U.S. while I was in the first grade—first to Los Angeles, then to Las Vegas four years later. I spent most of my summers in the Hungarian countryside growing up, so I kept the language, but quickly lost my connection to my true hometown."
Timea Sipos is a Hungarian American author and translator with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A former Steinbeck Fellow and winner of the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival Fiction Contest, her work has received support from MacDowell, the Vermont Studio Center, Tin House, the Black Mountain Institute, and PEN America, among others. She has published with Prairie Schooner, Denver Quarterly, The Florida Review, Waxwing, and more. Her translation of Kinga Tóth’s poetry collection Írmag/Offspring appeared in 2020 with YAMA Art and her translation of Márton Simon’s poetry collection Songs for 3:45 AM appeared in 2021 with The Offending Adam Press. Learn more about her work at www.timeasipos.com
June 2024
the submissions window for
our 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
will be open from
15th June
to
15th August 2024
submission guidelines for the 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
we consider only poetry in any language, apart from English, by refugees and immigrants
our 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
will be open from
15th June
to
15th August 2024
submission guidelines for the 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
we consider only poetry in any language, apart from English, by refugees and immigrants
June 2024
Refugee Week poetry reading
Organised by City of Sanctuary UK and hosted by the other side of hope editorial team, we are joined by poets and authors from around the world for an evening of literary delight – speaker’s include:
Anne Collins
Ana M. Fores Tamayo
Ambrose Musiniyia
Monica Clarke
Refugee Week poetry reading
Organised by City of Sanctuary UK and hosted by the other side of hope editorial team, we are joined by poets and authors from around the world for an evening of literary delight – speaker’s include:
Anne Collins
Ana M. Fores Tamayo
Ambrose Musiniyia
Monica Clarke
May 2024
Interview with our editor, Lina Fadel.
Interview with our editor, Lina Fadel.
Our editor, Lina Fadel, interviewed by Dita N Love, Linh S. Nguyễn & Jolin Tang from The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities at Cambridge University.
Read Lina's interview HERE
Read Lina's interview HERE
March 2024
online launch
'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
online launch
'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
We invite you to celebrate the launch of our first ever ‘other tongue, mother tongue’ issue, our first multilingual issue, which came out in January.
Meet the poets and editors of the other side of hope
Saturday 23 March 2024
19:00 - 20:30
online
This event is free
Make sure you register HERE
Meet the poets and editors of the other side of hope
Saturday 23 March 2024
19:00 - 20:30
online
This event is free
Make sure you register HERE
March 2024
Refugee Week 2024 Arts Away Day
Our editors Malka Al-Haddad and Mike Baynham
represented the other side of hope in this year's Refugee Week Arts Away Day.
Refugee Week 2024 Arts Away Day
Our editors Malka Al-Haddad and Mike Baynham
represented the other side of hope in this year's Refugee Week Arts Away Day.
March 2024
New books by our previous contributors,
Mugabi Byenkya, Sophie Buchaillard, Loraine Masiya Mponela and Emil Draitser.
Click on the images below to visit the publisher.
New books by our previous contributors,
Mugabi Byenkya, Sophie Buchaillard, Loraine Masiya Mponela and Emil Draitser.
Click on the images below to visit the publisher.
February 2024
Launch in Morocco Bound bookshop, London
Launch in Morocco Bound bookshop, London
Presented by Rubina Bala, Amir Darwish, and Malka Al-Haddad.
Contibutors readings by Ayman Eckford, Alice Motta, Angela Zaher, Erjola Shuaipi, Masimba Musodza, Carolina Christ Evelyn P, Sahra Mohamed, and Shereen Pandit.
Contibutors readings by Ayman Eckford, Alice Motta, Angela Zaher, Erjola Shuaipi, Masimba Musodza, Carolina Christ Evelyn P, Sahra Mohamed, and Shereen Pandit.
We invite you to celebrate the launch of Volume 3, Issue 2, with readings from contributors and team members, grab a drink or two from the bar at Morocco Bound Bookshop and join in on the conversation we started three years ago, about humanity, movement, everything literature and all sides of hope.
Wednesday 21 February 2024
19:00 - 22:00
Morocco Bound Bookshop
1a Morocco Street London SE1 3HB
This event is free, but ticketed
Make sure you get your ticket HERE
Wednesday 21 February 2024
19:00 - 22:00
Morocco Bound Bookshop
1a Morocco Street London SE1 3HB
This event is free, but ticketed
Make sure you get your ticket HERE
submissions open
1st of February to 30th April 2024
We welcome writers & poets from around the world to submit their work
this window is open to works in English only
Fiction, Poetry & Artwork
open exclusively to refugees & immigrants;
submissions are unthemed.
Non-Fiction
open to everyone;
theme: migration.
We pay all our contributors
Please full submissions guidelines HERE
We welcome writers & poets from around the world to submit their work
this window is open to works in English only
Fiction, Poetry & Artwork
open exclusively to refugees & immigrants;
submissions are unthemed.
Non-Fiction
open to everyone;
theme: migration.
We pay all our contributors
Please full submissions guidelines HERE
January 2024
Podcast
Lina Fadel, our poetry editor, discusses the other side of hope with Stack's Steve Watson
Listen HERE
Podcast
Lina Fadel, our poetry editor, discusses the other side of hope with Stack's Steve Watson
Listen HERE
January 2024
Online launch of our 3rd online issue
Online launch of our 3rd online issue
Presented by Maria Rovisco, Amir Darwish, and Asiye Betül; with an introductory talk by Julia Rampen.
Contributors readings by Alexandra Magearu, Alice Motta, Alison Hramiak, Angela Zaher, Ayman Eckford, Emil Draitser, Hanna Komar, Hongwei Bao, Maria Rybakova, Mugabi Byenkya, Polina Cosgrave, Rovshan Karimov, Sophia Kaur, and Yakin Kinger.
Contributors readings by Alexandra Magearu, Alice Motta, Alison Hramiak, Angela Zaher, Ayman Eckford, Emil Draitser, Hanna Komar, Hongwei Bao, Maria Rybakova, Mugabi Byenkya, Polina Cosgrave, Rovshan Karimov, Sophia Kaur, and Yakin Kinger.
We bring together contributors from our third online issue, from different parts of the world.
Join us for readings & a Q&A session with the magazine’s editors and contributors.
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
6pm to 7.30pm
online
Free event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
Join us for readings & a Q&A session with the magazine’s editors and contributors.
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
6pm to 7.30pm
online
Free event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
January 2024
Some of the contributors from our other tongue, mother tongue issue
Some of the contributors from our other tongue, mother tongue issue
January 2024
our other tongue, mother tongue issue is now live
our other tongue, mother tongue issue is now live
other tongue, mother tongue
20 poems in
Yoruba, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, Greek, Belarusian, Russian, Swedish, Kiikamba, Jamaican Patois, Iqbo, Bangla, French, Ukrainian, and Persian
presented along English translations
20 poems in
Yoruba, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, Greek, Belarusian, Russian, Swedish, Kiikamba, Jamaican Patois, Iqbo, Bangla, French, Ukrainian, and Persian
presented along English translations
December 2023
INTERVIEW
Interrogating Margins and Marginalisation
Our fiction editor, Mahima Kaur, talks to Kalpana Rao from Muse India
INTERVIEW
Interrogating Margins and Marginalisation
Our fiction editor, Mahima Kaur, talks to Kalpana Rao from Muse India
December 2023
PODCAST
Un/Documented
by IMIX
International Migrants Day: I am a migrant
In the first part of this episode, Ali and Eli interview Mimi, a survivor of modern-day slavery; in the second part, Julia talks with our editor, Alexandros Plasatis and discuss the other side of hope.
PODCAST
Un/Documented
by IMIX
International Migrants Day: I am a migrant
In the first part of this episode, Ali and Eli interview Mimi, a survivor of modern-day slavery; in the second part, Julia talks with our editor, Alexandros Plasatis and discuss the other side of hope.
December 2023
Priscilla Okoye's poem, I See You,
published in our latest print issue
is displayed on Exeter's
Poems For Hope And The City
a city-wide display for the New Year
Priscilla Okoye's poem, I See You,
published in our latest print issue
is displayed on Exeter's
Poems For Hope And The City
a city-wide display for the New Year
December 2023
We All Have the Migrant Inside Us
article on The International Organization for Migration UK
by our editor, Alexandros Plasatis
We All Have the Migrant Inside Us
article on The International Organization for Migration UK
by our editor, Alexandros Plasatis
December 2023
The Immigrant Narratives Finding The Other Side of Hope
article and video on South West Londoner
about the other side of hope
by Jethro Robathan
featuring our editor, Rubina Bala
The Immigrant Narratives Finding The Other Side of Hope
article and video on South West Londoner
about the other side of hope
by Jethro Robathan
featuring our editor, Rubina Bala
December 2023
Some of the contributors from our third online issue
Some of the contributors from our third online issue
December 2023
our third online issue is now live
our third online issue is now live
our third online issue includes
7 short stories, 1 novel excerpt, 20 poems, 7 non-fiction pieces, 3 book reviews,
and a short a collection of poetry by young refugee women at Young Roots and Refugee Council
Read the issue HERE
7 short stories, 1 novel excerpt, 20 poems, 7 non-fiction pieces, 3 book reviews,
and a short a collection of poetry by young refugee women at Young Roots and Refugee Council
Read the issue HERE
November 2023
November 2023
Online launch of our 3rd print issue
Online launch of our 3rd print issue
We bring together contributors from our third print issue, from different parts of the world.
Join us for readings & a Q&A session with the magazine’s editors and contributors.
Thursday, 30 November 2023
6pm to 7.30pm
online
Free event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
Join us for readings & a Q&A session with the magazine’s editors and contributors.
Thursday, 30 November 2023
6pm to 7.30pm
online
Free event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
November 2023
Event at the University of Northampton
Event at the University of Northampton
Wednesday, 29 November 2023
11am to 1pm
University of Northampton
Waterside Campus, University Drive
Northampton
NN1 5PH
Free event - open to everyone
No need to book. Ask at the library reception for a pass
11am to 1pm
University of Northampton
Waterside Campus, University Drive
Northampton
NN1 5PH
Free event - open to everyone
No need to book. Ask at the library reception for a pass
November 2023
Event at London Migration Festival
Event at London Migration Festival
This event, where we celebrate the magazine’s third birthday, will include readings by migrant writers and poets, live music, and a Q&A session with the magazine’s editors and contributors.
Saturday, 25 November 2023
6.30 to 8.30pm
Upstairs at the Ritzy
Brixton Oval
London
SW2 1JG
Ticketed event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
Full festival programme HERE
Saturday, 25 November 2023
6.30 to 8.30pm
Upstairs at the Ritzy
Brixton Oval
London
SW2 1JG
Ticketed event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
Full festival programme HERE
November 2023
New Perspectives on Travel Writing, Migration and Tourism
online conference
In Conversation: Founding the other side of hope magazine (10:45 to 11:15am)
Wednesday 22 November 2023, 10am to 7pm
With Cardiff University, Unesco Chair & University of Glasgow
New Perspectives on Travel Writing, Migration and Tourism
online conference
In Conversation: Founding the other side of hope magazine (10:45 to 11:15am)
Wednesday 22 November 2023, 10am to 7pm
With Cardiff University, Unesco Chair & University of Glasgow
Alexandros Plasatis and Maria Rovisco will talk about what prompted the creation of 'the other side of hope' and how this literary magazine has developed since its creation in 2021. They will reflect on the aims of the magazine and how the various editors work together to create a community of refugee and immigrant writers from around the world.
online
Free event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
Full programme HERE
online
Free event - open to everyone
Book a ticket HERE
Full programme HERE
November 2023
Laura Racioppi joins the team and takes over our social media
Laura Racioppi joins the team and takes over our social media
Laura, Italian native with a background in International Relations, advocates for inclusivity and equality. As the Director of S.P.R.A.R., she managed a project supporting refugees, emphasising programs for integration into Italian life. As a Cultural Mediator, she enhanced the educational experience for Roma children, conducted workshops, and addressed discrimination through annual reports. As a Volunteer Coordinator at CLEAR (City Life Education and Action for Refugees) in Southampton, she recruits and manages volunteers, contributes to policy development, and leads social media efforts. Laura is dedicated to amplifying the voices of asylum seekers and refugees worldwide.
November 2023
Event at Being Human Festival in Liverpool
Creative Writing Workshop and Discussion
Led by School of Advanced Study, University of London
In partnership with Arts and Humanities Research Council & The British Academy
Event at Being Human Festival in Liverpool
Creative Writing Workshop and Discussion
Led by School of Advanced Study, University of London
In partnership with Arts and Humanities Research Council & The British Academy
This event will include a conversation and writing workshop with the magazine’s editor, Alexandros Plasatis, whose own short stories have been shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and Pushcart Prize.
What does it mean to be a migrant and how might the hospitality offered to you in your host country make all the difference to your wellbeing and sense of belonging? You’ll have a chance to explore these questions and more at this workshop, where you’ll be supported in developing your own short stories. You’ll also be given advice about next steps, including publication.
12 November 2023
1pm to 4pm
FACT
88 Wood Street
Liverpool
L1 4DQ
Free event - open to everyone
Book your ticket HERE
Full Festival programme HERE
What does it mean to be a migrant and how might the hospitality offered to you in your host country make all the difference to your wellbeing and sense of belonging? You’ll have a chance to explore these questions and more at this workshop, where you’ll be supported in developing your own short stories. You’ll also be given advice about next steps, including publication.
12 November 2023
1pm to 4pm
FACT
88 Wood Street
Liverpool
L1 4DQ
Free event - open to everyone
Book your ticket HERE
Full Festival programme HERE
November 2023
Launch at the University of Leeds
Launch at the University of Leeds
Tuesday, 7 November 2023
4pm to 5.30pm
University of Leeds
Room: Esther Simpson SR (2.08)
Woodhouse
LS2 9JT
Free event - open to everyone
Book you place HERE
4pm to 5.30pm
University of Leeds
Room: Esther Simpson SR (2.08)
Woodhouse
LS2 9JT
Free event - open to everyone
Book you place HERE
October 2023
Launch event at Intercultured Festival, Bradford
Tuesday, 24 October 2023
In partnership with Bradford Immigration Asylum Seeker & Support Network (BIASAN), Counterpoints Arts, Cecil Green Arts, Waterstones, Bradford University, Theatre in the Mill, Bradford Libraries
Launch event at Intercultured Festival, Bradford
Tuesday, 24 October 2023
In partnership with Bradford Immigration Asylum Seeker & Support Network (BIASAN), Counterpoints Arts, Cecil Green Arts, Waterstones, Bradford University, Theatre in the Mill, Bradford Libraries
Tuesday, 24 October 2023
6.30pm to 9pm
Bradford Central Library
Centenary Square
Bradford
BD1 9SG
Free event - open to everyone
Book you place HERE
Full programme HERE
6.30pm to 9pm
Bradford Central Library
Centenary Square
Bradford
BD1 9SG
Free event - open to everyone
Book you place HERE
Full programme HERE
October 2023
Some of the contributors from our third print issue
Some of the contributors from our third print issue
October 2023
our third print issue is now out
our third print issue is now out
130 pages | softback | perfect bound
featuring refugee & immigrant writers from around the world
fiction || poetry || non-fiction || author interview
you can buy a copy HERE
featuring refugee & immigrant writers from around the world
fiction || poetry || non-fiction || author interview
you can buy a copy HERE
September 2023
August 2023
New book by one of our previous contributors, Nuha Fariha
Nuha Fariha was published in our second print issue
New book by one of our previous contributors, Nuha Fariha
Nuha Fariha was published in our second print issue
GOD MORNINGS, TIGER NIGHTS is an ode to the enduring spirit of the Bengal tiger and a love letter to an immigrant's journey. This collection crosses national and international borders, gender norms and generational lines and touches on issues of Islamophobia, isolation, and xenophobia. Through it all, the tiger emerges as a symbol of resilience and fierce pride, a vessel our poems return to again and again.
Published by Game Over Books
Purchase a copy from the publisher HERE
Purchase a copy from the publisher HERE
July 2023
New book by one of our previous contributors, David Davies
David Davies was published in our second online issue
New book by one of our previous contributors, David Davies
David Davies was published in our second online issue
Sir David and the Green Card maps a journey through the twists of today's U.S. immigration system, with all its surreal demands and medieval burdens. From a dark beginning in cold British traffic to the seared highways of California, these poems recount a ten-year quest for permanence and the motley characters - real and imagined - met along the way. Join a vibrant tour through machinery suspected-yet-unknown, a story of remaining human inside political scaffolding, and a scrutiny of the complex privilege of navigating it all as an English-speaker.
June 2023
Publishing and Producing Anthologies
Online event, organised by Together in the UK
Thursday, 29 June, 5pm
Publishing and Producing Anthologies
Online event, organised by Together in the UK
Thursday, 29 June, 5pm
Organised by Together in the UK
Learn the secrets of putting together an Anthology. Chaired by Adam Feinstein, the event features a panel of experts and contributors who will share their secrets of putting together an anthology, including:
Professor Marius Turda on his academic work, A Cultural History of Race (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Alexandros Plasatis, editor of The Other Side of Hope
Teresa Norman & Sinead Mangan-McHale, editors of Hear Our Stories - an anthology of writings on migration developed with and published by Victorina Press
Christopher Fielden, the mastermind behind 81 Words a flash fiction anthology (Victorina Press)
Learn the secrets of putting together an Anthology. Chaired by Adam Feinstein, the event features a panel of experts and contributors who will share their secrets of putting together an anthology, including:
Professor Marius Turda on his academic work, A Cultural History of Race (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Alexandros Plasatis, editor of The Other Side of Hope
Teresa Norman & Sinead Mangan-McHale, editors of Hear Our Stories - an anthology of writings on migration developed with and published by Victorina Press
Christopher Fielden, the mastermind behind 81 Words a flash fiction anthology (Victorina Press)
Book a ticket HERE
June 2023
Stories & Journeys
Saturday 24th of June, 3 to 6pm
'Living Under One Sun' Community Hub in Tottenham Hale, London
An afternoon celebrating the the work of refugee writers and artists
Our editor, Amir Darwish, reads his poems and talks about the other side of hope
Stories & Journeys
Saturday 24th of June, 3 to 6pm
'Living Under One Sun' Community Hub in Tottenham Hale, London
An afternoon celebrating the the work of refugee writers and artists
Our editor, Amir Darwish, reads his poems and talks about the other side of hope
Lighthouse Relief, in conjunction with Safe Place International, are holding their first event in London. The event brings together authors, poets and musicians, featuring readings from two new books. Brendan Woodhouse (co-author of Doro - Refugee, Hero, Champion, Survivor, and former Lighthouse volunteer), together with Jaz O’Hara (co-author of Asylum Speakers) will be present to read from, and sign copies of their books. A number of poets will read from works previously published in the magazine the other side of hope.
June 2023
Hostile Environment, Artful Living: creative approaches to sanctuary
Rubina Bala and Alexandros Plasatis on reclaiming literary voice and
space
A one-day event in Creative and Critical Refugee Studies
Nottingham Trent University
Friday 23 June 2023
10.30 am – 5.30 pm
Organised by Refugee Week and Nottingham Trent University
Hostile Environment, Artful Living: creative approaches to sanctuary
Rubina Bala and Alexandros Plasatis on reclaiming literary voice and
space
A one-day event in Creative and Critical Refugee Studies
Nottingham Trent University
Friday 23 June 2023
10.30 am – 5.30 pm
Organised by Refugee Week and Nottingham Trent University
Book a ticket HERE
June 2023
Online event: Celebrating Refugee Week with refugee writers
Online event: Celebrating Refugee Week with refugee writers
June 2023
New book by our poetry editor, Malka Al-Haddad
New book by our poetry editor, Malka Al-Haddad
Malka Al-Haddad grew up during the Iran-Iraq war and lost several close family members during the first Gulf War and American invasion in 2003. She became a poet and a human rights advocate, which attracted hostility towards her in Iraq. While she was studying English in preparation for her PhD in the UK, death threats against her escalated and she couldn't return back to her beloved home and family. Malka's asylum claim was continually refused by the Home Office and after 11 years, she was eventually granted leave to remain, but without access to public funding. She is now an ambassador for City of Sanctuary in the UK. Malka's pain and anger on behalf of all those caught up in the UK asylum system give her poetry a passionate strength and urgency.
June 2023
New book by our previous contributor Qin Sun Stubis
Qin Sun Stubis was published in our first print issue
New book by our previous contributor Qin Sun Stubis
Qin Sun Stubis was published in our first print issue
Once Our Lives is a multi-generational memoir based on the dramatic true events of two Chinese families over four generations. The book opens in the 1930s with a strange family myth about a boy who is born into a prosperous family but whose life is changed forever when he is entered by the unlucky spirit of a wandering beggar — dooming him, according to one chilling prophecy, to a fate he struggles against his whole life. At the same time, a girl from a remote seaside village is torn from her family and forced into a life of unhappy luxury in cosmopolitan Shanghai, surrounded by round-eyed devils, acts of startling kindness and cruelty, and a newfangled magical device called…radio.When their paths unexpectedly cross, the result is anything but a typical love story. Swept up with millions of others in the gigantic cultural tides of their time, their “Riches-to-Rags” story takes them from their privileged positions at the pinnacle of society downwards to persecuted political victims in a medieval fortress to a shantytown where life and death hang in the balance every day, and finally to a prison of the State.
June 2023
Submissions open for our first ever 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
Submissions open for our first ever 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue
April 2023
New book by our non-fiction editor, Maria Rovisco
New book by our non-fiction editor, Maria Rovisco
The role of the visual in politics is gaining momentum in scholarly work concerned with the current social media landscape. It is widely acknowledged that the production, dissemination and consumption of visual products in the Global South is powerfully shaped by geo-politics and a power dynamics in which the Global North dominates the South (the cultural imperialism argument). However, scant attention has been paid to theoretical, methodological, and empirically grounded approaches to visual politics produced by scholars working in the Global South. Little is known about the ways in which scholarship in the Global South might challenge and resist western approaches to the study of the visual. Against this background, this project aims to examine visual politics in the Global South through theoretically driven, and empirically grounded case studies, which focus on the role of the visual in formal politics (e.g., political campaigns, the relation between state and citizens) and public and everyday politics (e.g., social movements, activism, grassroots politics, civil society initiatives). This volume examines visual politics in the Global South through theoretically driven, and empirically grounded case studies, which focus on the role of the visual in formal politics (e.g., political campaigns, the relation between state and citizens) and public and everyday politics. It will be of interest to both researchers and students interested in the study of visual politics from various disciplinary lens (media and communication, anthropology, politics, and sociology).
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
More about the publication HERE
More about the publication HERE
March 2023
LRMN includes us in their World Book Day 2023 recommended reads
LRMN includes us in their World Book Day 2023 recommended reads
Read Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network's recommendations HERE
February 2023
New people join the project:
Mahima Kaur (fiction co-editor), Lina Fadel (poetry co-editor), Asiye Betül (non-fiction co-editor), Mike Baynham (editor of the 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue) and Isabel Medem (project consultant)
New people join the project:
Mahima Kaur (fiction co-editor), Lina Fadel (poetry co-editor), Asiye Betül (non-fiction co-editor), Mike Baynham (editor of the 'other tongue, mother tongue' issue) and Isabel Medem (project consultant)
Read more about the team HERE
February 2023
The magazine starts a collaboration with A.M. Heath Literary Agency
The magazine starts a collaboration with A.M. Heath Literary Agency
A.M. Heath Literary Agents will select and offer one-to-one sessions to 6 of our contributors. These one-to-ones will use the material in the magazine as a starting point, agents will share their thoughts editorially on what is working well and what may need looking at, and advise on potential next steps for the author.
About A.M. Heath
Founded in 1919 by Audrey Heath and Alice May Spinks, two women who challenged the conventions of publishing, we are a London literary agency still very much driven by a passion to help writers who want to shift, shape or enrich the wider cultural conversation, and provide irresistible entertainment.
Championing our clients’ writing remains at the heart of what we do. As well as a century of experience, we bring energy, ambition, and a keen eye for detail to our work.
Fond more about A.M. Heath Literary Agency HERE
About A.M. Heath
Founded in 1919 by Audrey Heath and Alice May Spinks, two women who challenged the conventions of publishing, we are a London literary agency still very much driven by a passion to help writers who want to shift, shape or enrich the wider cultural conversation, and provide irresistible entertainment.
Championing our clients’ writing remains at the heart of what we do. As well as a century of experience, we bring energy, ambition, and a keen eye for detail to our work.
Fond more about A.M. Heath Literary Agency HERE
February 2023
the magazine starts a one-year collaboration with Young Roots
the magazine starts a one-year collaboration with Young Roots
This year we are partnering with Young Roots to offer creative writing workshops to their young refugee clients. Overseen by Roz Doe, young clients will produce 5 collaborative poems for print and 5 pieces for the online issue.
February 2023
Submissions for our third volume open
Submissions for our third volume open
February 2023
the other side of hope receives one-year funding from Arts Council England
the other side of hope receives one-year funding from Arts Council England
December 2022
Language on the Move includes the magazine in their Reading Challenge 2023
Language on the Move is a peer-reviewed sociolinguistics research site devoted to multilingualism, language learning, and intercultural communication in the contexts of globalization and migration. Language on the Move aims to disseminate sociolinguistic research to a broad global audience.
Language on the Move includes the magazine in their Reading Challenge 2023
Language on the Move is a peer-reviewed sociolinguistics research site devoted to multilingualism, language learning, and intercultural communication in the contexts of globalization and migration. Language on the Move aims to disseminate sociolinguistic research to a broad global audience.
Read the blog entry HERE
December 2022
Migration stories: the other side of hope
Yasmine Mattoussi from Migrant Voice interviews our editors, Maria Rovisco & Alexandros Plasatis
Migration stories: the other side of hope
Yasmine Mattoussi from Migrant Voice interviews our editors, Maria Rovisco & Alexandros Plasatis
Read the short interview HERE
December 2022
Some of the contributors from our second online issue
Some of the contributors from our second online issue
December 2022
our second online issue is now live
our second online issue is now live
our second online issue includes
10 short stories, 1 novel excerpt, 36 poems, 10 non-fiction pieces, 2 book reviews, 1 author feature, and a collection of poetry, prose & art by the Art & Writing Hearth at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants
Read our second online issue HERE
10 short stories, 1 novel excerpt, 36 poems, 10 non-fiction pieces, 2 book reviews, 1 author feature, and a collection of poetry, prose & art by the Art & Writing Hearth at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants
Read our second online issue HERE
December 2022
We donate 500 copies to refugee centres and Public Libraries of Sanctuary
We donate 500 copies to refugee centres and Public Libraries of Sanctuary
You can find out about where our print copies were donated HERE
December 2022
Photos of our second print issue
as people posted them on social media
Photos of our second print issue
as people posted them on social media
November 2022
Online event to celebrate our 2nd print issue
Thursday 17th November, 6.30 to 8pm
Online event to celebrate our 2nd print issue
Thursday 17th November, 6.30 to 8pm
November 2022
November 2022
the other side of hope is awarded the Sanctuary Award by City of Sanctuary UK and becomes the UK's first ever literary magazine of sanctuary
the other side of hope is awarded the Sanctuary Award by City of Sanctuary UK and becomes the UK's first ever literary magazine of sanctuary
Sanctuary awards for the Arts are awarded to organisations for their commitment to creating a culture of welcome for people seeking sanctuary within the arts.
Find the list of organisations awarded sanctuary awards for the arts HERE
Find the list of organisations awarded sanctuary awards for the arts HERE
November 2022
Launch at Northampton University
Wednesday 30th November, 3pm to 5pm
Northampton University, in collaboration with CARE
Launch at Northampton University
Wednesday 30th November, 3pm to 5pm
Northampton University, in collaboration with CARE
Lina Fadel, Malka Al-Haddad, Alexandros Plasatis, Amir Darwish
November 2022
Creative Writing at Leicester features the magazine
Creative Writing at Leicester features the magazine
Read the blog entry HERE
November 2022
the magazine in now stocked at some independent bookshops
the magazine in now stocked at some independent bookshops
Find out all the bookshops that stock the magazine HERE
November 2022
Celebrating Islington Centre's 25th Anniversary at Amnesty International in London
Celebrating Islington Centre's 25th Anniversary at Amnesty International in London
Jane Ray, Sita Brahmachari & Ros Asquith from Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants. Rubina Bala from the other side of hope with Isabel Medem.
Sita Brahmachari reads Patchwork of Hope by Art and Writing Hearth at Islington Centre.
Patchwork of Hope is a communal poem from the Art and Writing Hearth at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants, London, curated by Artists and Writers in Residence Sita Brahmachari, Jane Ray and Ros Asquith.
Published in our print edition, 2.1, autumn 2022
Patchwork of Hope is a communal poem from the Art and Writing Hearth at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants, London, curated by Artists and Writers in Residence Sita Brahmachari, Jane Ray and Ros Asquith.
Published in our print edition, 2.1, autumn 2022
Visit our YouTube channel for more videos from our contributors HERE
October 2022
New book by our previous contributor Loraine Masiya Mponela
Loraine Masiya Mponela was published in our first online issue
New book by our previous contributor Loraine Masiya Mponela
Loraine Masiya Mponela was published in our first online issue
Loraine Masiya Mponela, born and raised in Malawi, currently lives in England, UK. A writer of poetry, comedy and articles, her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies, journals, and magazines. She is a Migrants Rights Campaigner and community organiser. Loraine has a lovely son.
Purchase a copy HERE
October 2022
Launch at Intercultured Festival, Bradford
Wednesday 19th October 2022, 6.30 to 9pm
Waterstones, Bradford
Launch at Intercultured Festival, Bradford
Wednesday 19th October 2022, 6.30 to 9pm
Waterstones, Bradford
Alexandros Plasatis, Amir Darwish, Rubina Bala, Asiye Betül, Maria Rovisco, Mahima Kaur
October 2022
Some of the contributors from our second print issue
Some of the contributors from our second print issue
October 2022
our second print issue is now out
our second print issue is now out
featuring refugee & immigrant writers from around the world
artwork
by Dmitry Borshch, a political refugee from the USSR to the US in 1989, and, since February of this year, a refugee again, fleeing the war from Dnipropetrovsk to New York.
fiction
by Victoria Buitron who hails from Ecuador and resides in Connecticut; H. T. Brickner, originally from China, who lives in Minnesota; Kasia Kokowska, an immigrant from Poland living in Scotland; Farha Mukri, born in Mumbai, residing in Chicago; Barlow Crassmont, a former refugee from Bosnia who lives in the United States.
poetry
by Lester Gómez Medina, born in Nicaragua, raised in Costa Rica, settled in London; Art and Writing Hearth at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants; Tatiana Dolgushina, a Soviet refugee, raised in South America before immigrating to the United States; Nuha Fariha, a first-generation Bangladeshi American; Mahima Kaur, a Londoner from India; Asiye Betül, a refugee from Turkey residing in Glasgow; Lina Fadel, a Syrian who has made Edinburgh home; Nashwa Nasreldin, an Egyptian who was born in Kuwait and lives in England; Elias Udo-Ochi, born in Nigeria, residing in Accra; Monica Clarke, a South African refugee who was granted asylum in the UK; Zad El Bacha, a migrant from Lebanon via Italy; Yaz Nin, born in Kibris, raised in Tottenham.
non-fiction
by Zoë Blaylock, an Italian-born immigrant to the United States; Ali Motamedi from Iran who lives in New York City; Yin F Lim, a Malaysian-born who lives in the UK; Tamara Haque, Bangladeshi by birth, with roots in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Australia.
book review
by Angus W. McGregor, citizen of the United States, making Japan his new home.
artwork
by Dmitry Borshch, a political refugee from the USSR to the US in 1989, and, since February of this year, a refugee again, fleeing the war from Dnipropetrovsk to New York.
fiction
by Victoria Buitron who hails from Ecuador and resides in Connecticut; H. T. Brickner, originally from China, who lives in Minnesota; Kasia Kokowska, an immigrant from Poland living in Scotland; Farha Mukri, born in Mumbai, residing in Chicago; Barlow Crassmont, a former refugee from Bosnia who lives in the United States.
poetry
by Lester Gómez Medina, born in Nicaragua, raised in Costa Rica, settled in London; Art and Writing Hearth at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants; Tatiana Dolgushina, a Soviet refugee, raised in South America before immigrating to the United States; Nuha Fariha, a first-generation Bangladeshi American; Mahima Kaur, a Londoner from India; Asiye Betül, a refugee from Turkey residing in Glasgow; Lina Fadel, a Syrian who has made Edinburgh home; Nashwa Nasreldin, an Egyptian who was born in Kuwait and lives in England; Elias Udo-Ochi, born in Nigeria, residing in Accra; Monica Clarke, a South African refugee who was granted asylum in the UK; Zad El Bacha, a migrant from Lebanon via Italy; Yaz Nin, born in Kibris, raised in Tottenham.
non-fiction
by Zoë Blaylock, an Italian-born immigrant to the United States; Ali Motamedi from Iran who lives in New York City; Yin F Lim, a Malaysian-born who lives in the UK; Tamara Haque, Bangladeshi by birth, with roots in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Australia.
book review
by Angus W. McGregor, citizen of the United States, making Japan his new home.
September 2022
The bookmarks for the 2nd print issue arrive
September 2022
Editors and contributors from the other side of hope will be discussing creativity and migration
Saturday 3rd September
Editors and contributors from the other side of hope will be discussing creativity and migration
Saturday 3rd September
August 2022
George Sfougaras's Tanner's Gate, the cover of our first online issue, is now a finalist at Best of the Net.
George Sfougaras's Tanner's Gate, the cover of our first online issue, is now a finalist at Best of the Net.
August 2022
August 2022
The London Review of Books kindly offered us free space in their latest issue
The London Review of Books kindly offered us free space in their latest issue
August 2022
Olivier Llouquet and Alexandros Plasatis work on the second volume
Olivier Llouquet and Alexandros Plasatis work on the second volume
July 2022
Mother Tongue: On the Language of Migration
Hazel Beevers from The Lit talks with Professor Francesco Goglia and Alexandros Plasatis on how language can help dissolve borders and the power of words
Mother Tongue: On the Language of Migration
Hazel Beevers from The Lit talks with Professor Francesco Goglia and Alexandros Plasatis on how language can help dissolve borders and the power of words
Read the article HERE.
July 2022
Sepideh Moafi becomes our ambassador
Sepideh Moafi becomes our ambassador
Sepideh Moafi is an Iranian-American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in The Deuce (2017–2019), The L Word: Generation Q (2019–2023), and Black Bird (2022).
Moafi was born in a refugee camp in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. Prior to her birth, her parents fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution. After two years in Turkey and then Germany, where Moafi's parents sought political asylum and claimed refugee status, Moafi's family were granted visas to move to the United States.
During her childhood years, she studied opera and was later pulled into musical theatre and jazz. Moafi started singing at 15 years old and within a year had a full scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she graduated in 2007. Moafi attended the University of California Irvine to study acting where she later graduated with an MFA in 2013.
Moafi was born in a refugee camp in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. Prior to her birth, her parents fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution. After two years in Turkey and then Germany, where Moafi's parents sought political asylum and claimed refugee status, Moafi's family were granted visas to move to the United States.
During her childhood years, she studied opera and was later pulled into musical theatre and jazz. Moafi started singing at 15 years old and within a year had a full scholarship to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she graduated in 2007. Moafi attended the University of California Irvine to study acting where she later graduated with an MFA in 2013.
June 2022
New book by our previous contributor Sophie Buchaillard
Sophie Buchaillard was published in our first print issue
New book by our previous contributor Sophie Buchaillard
Sophie Buchaillard was published in our first print issue
1994, Iris and Victoria are pen friends. Iris writes about her life with her family in Paris. Victoria is in a refugee camp in Goma having fled the genocide in Rwanda in which thousands are being killed. One day Victoria’s letters stop, and Iris is told she has been moved.
Twenty years later Iris, a new mother, is working as a journalist in London. As she prepares to return to work, her thoughts turn to Victoria and what might have happened to her. She pitches a story to her editor which sets her on a journey to find her pen friend. But as she follows the story, things emerge that make her question her own past. Was her father, a French government official, somehow involved in the genocide? Are her childhood memories more fiction than fact? Why is she looking for Victoria, really?
For Victoria, the last twenty years have been ones of migration, to Goma, then to Paris and finally to London. There she starts a new life with her youngest brother Paul, and leaves the past behind. Or so she thinks until she is suddenly confronted with the decision to reconnect with her genocide-supporting middle brother Benjamin.
How have the lives of these two women, who shared a moment in time, changed in the past twenty years? As the pressure of long-kept family secrets builds, will they ever find each other?
Twenty years later Iris, a new mother, is working as a journalist in London. As she prepares to return to work, her thoughts turn to Victoria and what might have happened to her. She pitches a story to her editor which sets her on a journey to find her pen friend. But as she follows the story, things emerge that make her question her own past. Was her father, a French government official, somehow involved in the genocide? Are her childhood memories more fiction than fact? Why is she looking for Victoria, really?
For Victoria, the last twenty years have been ones of migration, to Goma, then to Paris and finally to London. There she starts a new life with her youngest brother Paul, and leaves the past behind. Or so she thinks until she is suddenly confronted with the decision to reconnect with her genocide-supporting middle brother Benjamin.
How have the lives of these two women, who shared a moment in time, changed in the past twenty years? As the pressure of long-kept family secrets builds, will they ever find each other?
May 2022
Workshop: 'Ethnography Otherwise. Storytelling and the Ordinary'
Thursday 26 May 2022, 2pm to 4pm
Birmingham University
Workshop: 'Ethnography Otherwise. Storytelling and the Ordinary'
Thursday 26 May 2022, 2pm to 4pm
Birmingham University
Our editor, Alexandros Plasatis, talks about ethnography, writing, and the other side of hope.
May 2022
Meet Milad. He loves Charlie Chaplin & wants to be an actor one day. He arrived to the UK 2 years ago as a lone refugee child. He’s now perfecting his English by writing & reading poetry This is him reading from the other side of hope.
Meet Milad. He loves Charlie Chaplin & wants to be an actor one day. He arrived to the UK 2 years ago as a lone refugee child. He’s now perfecting his English by writing & reading poetry This is him reading from the other side of hope.
April 2022
Writing East Midlands interviews our editor, Alexandros Plasatis, on writing, creative writing workshops with refugees and the other side of hope
Writing East Midlands interviews our editor, Alexandros Plasatis, on writing, creative writing workshops with refugees and the other side of hope
Read the full interview HERE
April 2022
the other side of hope features at The Times Literary Supplement
the other side of hope features at The Times Literary Supplement
Stories of you and me: Things lost and gained in the telling of refugees’ tales
By Charlotte McDonald-Gibson
Read the review HERE
By Charlotte McDonald-Gibson
Read the review HERE
March 2022
the other side of hope features in Writers on Reading, a Welsh literary podcast.
the other side of hope features in Writers on Reading, a Welsh literary podcast.
In this new episode, Sophie and Jonathan speak to author and teacher Tyler Keevil about his career, the benefits of Creative Writing in Higher Education, and his gripping thriller, Your Still Beating Heart.
This is followed by two more reviews:
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.
- The Other Side of Hope Literary Magazine.
Listen to the podcast HERE
This is followed by two more reviews:
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.
- The Other Side of Hope Literary Magazine.
Listen to the podcast HERE
March 2022
The project welcomes new people
Amir Darwish (review & interviews editor), Elahe Ziai (communications), Judy Qeis (social media) and Parang Khezri (video editor) join the project
The project welcomes new people
Amir Darwish (review & interviews editor), Elahe Ziai (communications), Judy Qeis (social media) and Parang Khezri (video editor) join the project
Read more about the team HERE
March 2022
February 2022
Sarah Edgcumbe reviews the first print issue for The Norwich Radical
'The stories and poems contained in this collection are at once confronting, poignant and musical.'
Sarah Edgcumbe reviews the first print issue for The Norwich Radical
'The stories and poems contained in this collection are at once confronting, poignant and musical.'
Read the full review HERE
February 2022
The magazine is listed on Chill Subs
The magazine is listed on Chill Subs
View listing HERE
February 2022
The magazine is listed on Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers
The magazine is listed on Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers
View the listing HERE
February 2022
the magazine starts a one-year collaboration with the Islington Centre with Refugees and Migrant
the magazine starts a one-year collaboration with the Islington Centre with Refugees and Migrant
This summer we are partnering with Islington Centre for Refugees & Migrants to offer creative writing workshops to their community. Overseen by Sita Brahmachari, migrant clients will produce 1 collaborative poem for print and 10 pieces for the online issue.
February 2022
Submissions for our second volume open
Submissions for our second volume open
February 2022
the other side of hope receives one-year funding from Arts Council England
the other side of hope receives one-year funding from Arts Council England
January 2022
Rubina Bala, our fiction editor, writes for Nottingham City of Literature
'How can literature provide a community and haven for the voices of refugee and immigrant writers?'
Rubina Bala, our fiction editor, writes for Nottingham City of Literature
'How can literature provide a community and haven for the voices of refugee and immigrant writers?'
Read Rubina's article HERE
January 2022
Our lead editor, Alexandros Plasatis, is shortlisted for The Edge Hill Prize
for his novel in stories, Made by Sea and Wood, in Darkness.
The Edge Hill Prize of £10,000 is awarded annually by Edge Hill University for excellence in a published single authored short story collection.
Our lead editor, Alexandros Plasatis, is shortlisted for The Edge Hill Prize
for his novel in stories, Made by Sea and Wood, in Darkness.
The Edge Hill Prize of £10,000 is awarded annually by Edge Hill University for excellence in a published single authored short story collection.
January 2022
The Bookseller features the other side of hope
The Bookseller features the other side of hope
'We believe that people need to understand each other, and this magazine exists to enable people to gain insights into us – our lives, our talents and our stories.'
Read Ruth Comeford's short interview with our poetry editor, Malka Al-Haddad, at The Bookseller HERE.
Read Ruth Comeford's short interview with our poetry editor, Malka Al-Haddad, at The Bookseller HERE.
January 2022
Byline Times features the other side of hope
Malka Al-Haddad, our poetry editor, introduces the magazine to Byline Times readers.
Byline Times features the other side of hope
Malka Al-Haddad, our poetry editor, introduces the magazine to Byline Times readers.
Read Malka's article HERE
December 2021
our first online issue is out
our first online issue is out
our first online issue includes
20 short stories, 66 poems, 18 non-fiction pieces, 2 author interviews & 3 book reviews
Read the online issue HERE
20 short stories, 66 poems, 18 non-fiction pieces, 2 author interviews & 3 book reviews
Read the online issue HERE
December 2021
Photos of our first print issue
as people posted them on social media
Photos of our first print issue
as people posted them on social media
December 2021
online launch
Friday, 17 December 2021, from 19:30 to 21:30
online launch
Friday, 17 December 2021, from 19:30 to 21:30
Presented by Maria Rovisco with talks by Malka Al-Haddad and A.M. Dassu.
Contributors readings by George Sfougaras, Murzban F. Shroff, Marina Antropow Cramer, Madalena Daleziou, Qin Sun Stubis, Sahra Mohamed, Radhika Maira Tabrez, Minaxi Champaneri, Bänoo Zan, and Musembi Wa’ Ndaita.
Contributors readings by George Sfougaras, Murzban F. Shroff, Marina Antropow Cramer, Madalena Daleziou, Qin Sun Stubis, Sahra Mohamed, Radhika Maira Tabrez, Minaxi Champaneri, Bänoo Zan, and Musembi Wa’ Ndaita.
December 2021
Launch at Leeds University
Wednesday, 7 December, 2.30pm to 4.30pm
hosted by the Bauman Institute
Social Sciences SR (14.33), Social Sciences Building - University of Leeds.
Launch at Leeds University
Wednesday, 7 December, 2.30pm to 4.30pm
hosted by the Bauman Institute
Social Sciences SR (14.33), Social Sciences Building - University of Leeds.
Maria Rovisco, Anne Collins, Malka Al-Haddad, Amir Darwish
November 2021
Richart Byrt reviews the magazine for Everybody's Reviewing
Richart Byrt reviews the magazine for Everybody's Reviewing
Read the review HERE
November 2021
October 2021
Creative Writing at Leicester features the magazine
Creative Writing at Leicester features the magazine
Read the blog entry HERE
October 2021
We donate 500 copies to refugee centres and Public Libraries of Sanctuary
We donate 500 copies to refugee centres and Public Libraries of Sanctuary
You can find out about where our print copies were donated HERE
September 2021
Launch of first print issue at Leicester Cathedral
as part of Journeys International Festival
Launch of first print issue at Leicester Cathedral
as part of Journeys International Festival
Mostafa, Alexandros Plasatis, Malka Al-Haddad, Maria Rovisco, David Hill and Rubina Bala at Leicester Cathedral
September 2021
our first print issue is out
our first print issue is out
featuring refugee & immigrant writers from around the world
fiction by:
Qin Sun Stubis, a Chinese immigrant living in Washington, D.C.; Radhika Maira Tabrez, whose home is split between Delhi, Dhaka, and Penang; Marina Antropow Cramer – born in Germany, the child of Russian refugees from the Soviet Union, who emigrated with her family to the United States; Madalena Daleziou, a Greek writer living in Glasgow; J.B Polk – Polish by birth, a citizen of world by choice; Musembi Wa’ Ndaita, a Kenyan writer based in Philadelphia.
poetry by:
Atar Hadari, an immigrant; Bingh, a refugee from Vietnam who lives in the US; Kimia Etemadi, who moved from Iran to England as a baby with her mother; Amer Raawan, a Syrian refugee who lives in London; Middle Eastern Women’s Friendship Group – a group of refugee women writers who live in Edinburgh; Alberto Quero, who moved from Venezuela to Canada; Flower, who arrived in the UK from Africa and was put in Yarl’s Wood detention centre; Bänoo Zan, an Iranian immigrant who lives in Canada.
non-fiction by:
Dan Alex, who arrived in the UK from Eastern Europe; Murzban F. Shroff, who lives in India; Jhon Sánchez, a Colombian-born writer who arrived in New York seeking political asylum; Sahra Mohamed, a Somalian immigrant who lives in London.
And book reviews by Lucy Popescu & Kathryn Aldridge-Morris.
fiction by:
Qin Sun Stubis, a Chinese immigrant living in Washington, D.C.; Radhika Maira Tabrez, whose home is split between Delhi, Dhaka, and Penang; Marina Antropow Cramer – born in Germany, the child of Russian refugees from the Soviet Union, who emigrated with her family to the United States; Madalena Daleziou, a Greek writer living in Glasgow; J.B Polk – Polish by birth, a citizen of world by choice; Musembi Wa’ Ndaita, a Kenyan writer based in Philadelphia.
poetry by:
Atar Hadari, an immigrant; Bingh, a refugee from Vietnam who lives in the US; Kimia Etemadi, who moved from Iran to England as a baby with her mother; Amer Raawan, a Syrian refugee who lives in London; Middle Eastern Women’s Friendship Group – a group of refugee women writers who live in Edinburgh; Alberto Quero, who moved from Venezuela to Canada; Flower, who arrived in the UK from Africa and was put in Yarl’s Wood detention centre; Bänoo Zan, an Iranian immigrant who lives in Canada.
non-fiction by:
Dan Alex, who arrived in the UK from Eastern Europe; Murzban F. Shroff, who lives in India; Jhon Sánchez, a Colombian-born writer who arrived in New York seeking political asylum; Sahra Mohamed, a Somalian immigrant who lives in London.
And book reviews by Lucy Popescu & Kathryn Aldridge-Morris.
July 2021
Lord Alf Dubs becomes our second patron
Lord Alf Dubs becomes our second patron
Alf Dubs was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Dubs was one of 669 children saved by British stockbroker Nicholas Winton, and others, from the Nazis on the Kindertransport between March and September 1939. His father, Hubert, had fled to England the day the Nazis arrived in Czechoslovakia and met young Alf at Liverpool Street station. Alf later said that he clearly remembered leaving Prague station at age six and not touching the food pack given to him by his mother for the next two days. His mother was initially denied a visa but was able to join him and his father in London shortly afterwards.
In 2016, Lord Dubs tabled what became section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 by which UK local authorities admitted unaccompanied minors housed in EU refugee camps who were mainly asylum seekers.
In 2016, Lord Dubs tabled what became section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 by which UK local authorities admitted unaccompanied minors housed in EU refugee camps who were mainly asylum seekers.
July 2021
First live Q&A session with the other side of hope
First live Q&A session with the other side of hope
8pm, Friday 2nd July 2021 - Instagram Live
Maria Rovisco, Rubina Bala, and Alexandros Plasatis will talk about the project and answer questions. Join us on Instagram @OtherSideLitMag
Maria Rovisco, Rubina Bala, and Alexandros Plasatis will talk about the project and answer questions. Join us on Instagram @OtherSideLitMag
June 2021
A.M. Dassu becomes our first patron
A.M. Dassu becomes our first patron
A. M. Dassu is an English writer of fiction and non-fiction. In 2017, Dassu won the international We Need Diverse Books mentorship award. Her bestselling debut novel, Boy, Everywhere, was published in October 2020, and was shortlisted for the 2021 Waterstone's Children's Books Prize, and won the 2021 The Little Rebels Award for Radical Fiction. A. M. Dassu donated a large part of the prize towards the second volume of the other side of hope.
Visit A. M. Dassu's website HERE
Visit A. M. Dassu's website HERE
May 2021
the magazine is featured in Voice
the magazine is featured in Voice
Read the blog entry HERE
February 2021
The magazine is listed on Duotrope,an established, award-winning resource for writers and artists.
The magazine is listed on Duotrope,an established, award-winning resource for writers and artists.
Find the entry HERE
February 2021
Submissions for our first volume open
Submissions for our first volume open
February 2021
the other side of hope receives one-year funding from Arts Council England
the other side of hope receives one-year funding from Arts Council England
December 2020
The first team is formed:
Alexandros Plasatis (lead editor), Maria Rovisco (non-fiction editor), Olivier Llouquet (design), Malka Al-Haddad (poetry editor), Hansa Dasgupta (fiction editor) and Rubina Bala (reviews & interviews editor, and social media).
The first team is formed:
Alexandros Plasatis (lead editor), Maria Rovisco (non-fiction editor), Olivier Llouquet (design), Malka Al-Haddad (poetry editor), Hansa Dasgupta (fiction editor) and Rubina Bala (reviews & interviews editor, and social media).
Read more about the team HERE
September 2020
During the pandemic, Alexandros Plasatis met with Maddie Smart for a walk at Victoria Park in Leicester and shared his idea of creating a literary magazine that would be edited by immigrants and refugees, and that would publish and offer payment to refugee, immigrant and asylum seeker writers from across the world. At the time Maddie worked for ArtReach and was developing the refugee festival Journeys Festival International. Maddie proposed to support Alexandros with the writing of an ACE funding application, and ArtReach offered £1,000 as funding for the project.
During the pandemic, Alexandros Plasatis met with Maddie Smart for a walk at Victoria Park in Leicester and shared his idea of creating a literary magazine that would be edited by immigrants and refugees, and that would publish and offer payment to refugee, immigrant and asylum seeker writers from across the world. At the time Maddie worked for ArtReach and was developing the refugee festival Journeys Festival International. Maddie proposed to support Alexandros with the writing of an ACE funding application, and ArtReach offered £1,000 as funding for the project.
