Curiosity & Connection: Do We See One Another?

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with prizewinning author Dina Nayeri (Reader, University of St Andrews) and Dr Alison Strang (Professor Emeritus, Queen Margaret University) as we explore themes of sanctuary, the asylum limbo, common humanity, connection, curiosity, and belonging.

In her honest and captivating writing, Nayeri shows us a window into some refugee experiences (her own and others’) and the soul-crushing limbo that some people have to endure in seeking safety and sanctuary. She candidly delves into the complicated topics of being believed (or not), the expectations of fitting-in, and the complexities of humanitarian work.

In a world marked with violence and polarisation perhaps you, like us and our New Scot neighbours and friends, are longing for deep connection and belonging. Join us to wonder together, do we really see one another? Do we receive one another open-heartedly? Could curiosity be a pathway for deeper connection and an antidote to shame?

An evening not to be missed!

Dina Nayeri

Dina Nayeri is the author of two critically acclaimed nonfiction books Who Gets Believed (2023) and The Ungrateful Refugee (2019), and two novels published by Riverhead Books (the first sold in 14+ countries, the second a New York Times Editor's Choice). Who Gets Believed? was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and The Ungrateful Refugee was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and the Kirkus Prize, and won Germany's prestigious Geschwister Scholl Prize. Her work is published in more than twenty countries and in The New York Times, New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Guardian, Granta, Best American Short Stories, O Henry Prize Stories, and many other publications. She was a fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris, winner of a National Endowment for the Arts literature grant and the UNESCO City of Literature Paul Engle Prize, among many other honours. She reviews fiction for The New York Times and The Guardian. Her essays and stories on displacement and home are taught in schools across Europe and the US. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, Harvard, and Princeton, and is a tenured faculty member (Reader) at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

https://www.dinanayeri.com/

Dr Alison Strang

Dr Alison Strang (Emeritus, Queen Margaret University) recently retired from a career in academic research focusing on the impacts of forced migration on refugees themselves and the places where refugees travel and seek to settle. She has worked in humanitarian settings across the world, as well as with governments in high income contexts. She is co-author of the UK Government ‘Indicators of Integration’ refugee integration framework and was the founder of the ‘New Scots’ Refugee integration strategy. Alison is currently supporting Edinburgh City Council in the collaborative development of a refugee integration strategy for the city. In addition to her professional interests, Alison is involved in Mustard Seed Edinburgh, a small community of Christians pursuing hospitality and justice, and is involved in the English Conversation Cafe that Mustard Seed runs in partnership with Edinburgh City Mission.

Salaam

Salaam is Edinburgh City Mission's ministry which aims at supporting New Scots (refugees, asylum seekers and other newcomers to our city) and inspiring and equipping the churches to become places of hospitality and belonging for everyone.

Edinburgh City Mission's mission is to stimulate and strengthen the Church to get involved in sharing God's love to our neighbours.

Host or Publisher Edinburgh City Mission and Ps and Gs Church