Refugee talk

Salisbury group welcomes Daniel Trilling to Salisbury on 10 December

December 2018

The author and journalist Daniel Trilling is speaking at the Methodist Church in St Edmund’s Street Salisbury on 10 December on the subject of refugees.   He has recently published a book Lights in the Distance which has had a number of favourable reviews (see below).  The talk begins at 7:30 pm and is FREE with a parting collection to help with our costs.  Copies of the book will be available for sale.

The refugee problem has caused immense problems particularly in Europe.  It has crucially affected elections in Hungary and Poland and some think that it was one of the driving issues in the Brexit referendum in the UK.  The American elections are currently taking place with president Trump making all kinds of claims about immigrants from Honduras now travelling across Mexico to the Texas border.

Lights in the Distance calmly portrays the reality of life for people trying to enter a Europe that largely doesn’t want them … If knowledge is the foundation of action, then [Trilling] has done us a great service by turning masses and numbers into people whom we like, who we can see are like us. (New Statesman)

Brilliantly researched and written Lights in the Distance is, above all, a book of witness … Trilling [brings] his reader as close as possible to the actual circumstances of those who have found their way to Calais, or to Catania in Sicily or to London or to Athens, only to find themselves condemned to occupy space, rather than live. (Observer)

A compelling account of the individual stories of refugees on the move … Its driving characters are nine migrants, and the book is almost entirely dedicated to their personal stories.  In a terse and powerful introduction and afterword, the author’s mastery of the details of his subject shines through. (Financial Times)

Subtle but effective … This is what makes Lights in the Distance such a powerful book. In the midst of an escalating crisis, Trilling manages to keep his lens focused tightly on the people who are most intimately affected by the geopolitical catastrophe taking place around them. (Irish Times)

Humane and illuminating, Lights in the Distance is a vital examination of what the new era of border control and deportations really means, what it costs, and who pays the price. (Olivia Laing)

Combining forensic enquiry with moral passion, Daniel Trilling has emerged as one of our most intrepid and resourceful reporters. In Lights in the Distance, he illuminates the vast human tragedy behind newspaper headlines about refugees, forcing us to confront Europe’s legacy of imperialism and nationalism. (Pankaj Mishra)

A deeply moving and much needed reminder of the human tales which are so often obscured by political rhetoric on migration. (Fatima Manji, Channel 4 News)

We hope this talk will shine some informed light on this vexed area.  There has been considerable interest in this subject recently especially in the light of Theresa May’s deliberately hostile immigration policy from when she was home secretary.  This was under the spotlight when numbers of the Windrush generation were caught up in after having lived here for several decades.

This would be an opportunity to meet members of the local group if you are interested in joining us

@wilts4refugees