When We Take Off
Author : Melora Shahabudin
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN : 9789671136508
Call Number : 823 MEL
Summary:
In her hands, the people Melora Shahabudin meets, as refugees, the communities beyond or with no boundaries, have compelling stories that she shapes from everyday, unlikely and imaginary encounters. Between the rebelling teenage refugee, Ali Reza in Chasing Thin Air, Ahmed Jama Ahmed’s visionary struggle to keep his family alive in Miserable of My Children or the whimsical Laila in Popsicles, My Exercise Book & The Indian Barbie Doll their stories are our reminders that in many ways we are all on some journey to some place near or far.
If the prose has stirring reminders of human longing, complicated loss and stirring concerns of staying alive, the verses are no less sparkles that touch our senses urging compassion, shock and even horror, when we sense urgency and movement in Run Blindfolded or Stage 5. The writing that comes across as brooding, dark even, is gently lifted with some humour, unexpected irony and a variety of voices that range from old world to what might seem an American soap, if a peroxide hair-coloured Californian ended up as a refugee. When We Take Off offers amusing moments, insights and a chance to journey along with the tides of people crossing boundaries, and borders in search of what most of us are blessed to have — a secure sky — under which we live, love and hope.