Pádraig Ó Tuama in conversation with Yousif M. Qasmiyeh at the Wimbledon BookFest

Pádraig Ó Tuama and Refugee Hosts' writer-in-residence, Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, will be in conversation at the 50 Poems to Open Your World event at this year’s Wimbledon BookFest. This is an in-person event taking place from 5-6pm on Saturday the 24th of September 2022. More details, including ticket sales, can be found by clicking the…

‘Writing the Camp’ shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize 2022

Refugee Hosts is delighted to announce that 'Writing the Camp,' the poetry collection written by Yousif M. Qasmiyeh during his work as the Refugee Hosts Writer-in-Residence, has been shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize 2022.  The RSL Ondaatje Prize is awarded by the RSL to 'an outstanding work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that…

‘Writing the Camp’ selected as one of the Best Poetry Books of 2021 by The Irish Times

Writing the Camp - the poetry collection written by Yousif M. Qasmiyeh during his work as the Refugee Hosts Writer-in-Residence - has been selected as one of the Best Poetry Books of 2021 by The Irish Times, with Seán Hewitt praising it as a "vital sequence of poems... a remarkable collection." Writing the Camp was…

‘Writing the Camp’ Highly Commended by the Forward Prizes

Writing the Camp - the poetry collection written by Yousif M. Qasmiyeh during his work as the Refugee Hosts Writer-in-Residence - has been Highly Commended by this year's Forward Prizes, building on the collection having been selected as The Poetry Book Society's Spring 2021 Recommendation earlier this year, and named as one of ‘the best…

Yousif M. Qasmiyeh at the IASFM18 Conference

Refugee Hosts' writer-in-residence, Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, will read from his acclaimed poetry collection, 'Writing the Camp,' in conversation with Prof. Heaven Crawley, at the IASFM18 Conference 'Disrupting Theory, Unsettling Practice: Towards Transformative Forced Migration Scholarship and Policy.' 'Writing the Camp' is an essential collection drawn from Yousif's experience of the Baddawi refugee camp in Lebanon.…

Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh & Yousif M. Qasmiyeh speak at Refugee Week ‘ReConnect’ Event

On Friday the 18th of June 2021, from 2pm - 5pm (GMT), Refugee Hosts' PI, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and writer-in-residence, Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, spoke at the ReConnect event 'Supporting Refugees into Higher Education'. Yousif M Qasmiyeh read from his acclaimed collection of poetry 'Writing the Camp' and Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh critically discussed the notion of “voice”…

“Writing the Camp” – Yousif M. Qasmiyeh’s new poetry collection named The Poetry Book Society’s Spring 2021 Recommendation

We are delighted to announce that Refugee Hosts' writer-in-residence Yousif M. Qasmiyeh's poetry collection, "Writing the Camp", will be released on the 28th February 2021 (published by Broken Sleep Books), and has been selected as The Poetry Book Society’s Spring 2021 Recommendation. The collection is available to pre-order here. Praise for Writing the Camp: “Yousif M.…

From Home to Home

This poem is written by Prof. Ilan Kelman, inspired by the recently published Refuge in a Moving World Open Access volume edited by Refugee Hosts PI Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh. Ilan's chapter in the book, “Does climate change cause migration?” (pp. 123 - 133) examines if climate change has a direct and causative affect on forced migration, or…

The Bomb Shelter

The Bomb Shelter by Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, University of Oxford, Refugee Hosts, and Imagining Futures The bomb shelter: The camp’s alibi for a presence susceptible to its presence The private parts of the dead, circumcised with hindsight Guts as road signs                                          Or a map Ruins summoning ruins             Ruins fornicating ruins In rows, they ululated. The bomb shelter?…

With a third eye, I see the catastrophe

With a third eye, I see the catastrophe By Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, University of Oxford and Refugee Hosts  [I write the secret]. On the doorstep, finding her way to the seeds that escaped her lap: Like the one who read the book, Son, read my swollen legs, another’s land. The camp happens in the distance.…