Behrouz Boochani: Freedom, Only Freedom

Where

The Capitol: 113 Swanston Street, Melbourne

When

Monday, 12 Dec 2022, 07:30pm - 09:00pm

Event Status

Past event

Featuring

About

For over six years, Kurdish-Iranian journalist and writer Behrouz Boochani bore personal witness to the treatment of refugees in Australia’s offshore immigration detention centre on Manus Island.

Painstakingly typed out in text messages while he was incarcerated, Boochani’s experiences were recorded in his acclaimed book, No Friend but the Mountains (translated by Omid Tofighian), for which he was awarded the 2019 Victorian Prize for Literature, and many other awards.

Now, Boochani arrives in Australia for the first time, appearing live in conversation with Man Booker Prize-winning novelist Richard Flanagan at The Capitol for his only Melbourne event to mark the release of his moving, creative and challenging new essay collection, Freedom, Only Freedom (translated by Omid Tofighian and Moones Mansoubi, and published by Bloomsbury).

Following an introduction by his long-time translators and collaborators, Omid Tofighian and Moones Mansoubi, Boochani will reflect on his own experiences and those of other refugees, and offer a unique insight into urgent issues of border violence, human rights and creative resistance.

Presented in partnership with Readings. Supported by PEN Melbourne.

Accessibility

Auslan Interpreted

Wheelchair accessible

Accessible toilets available

Please notify us of all access requirements when booking online so we can assist you with your visit. If you require further information, please contact reception on 03 9094 7800 or ticketing@wheelercentre.com.

About the book

The bookseller for this event is Readings.

Featuring

Behrouz Boochani

Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish-Iranian writer, journalist, scholar, cultural advocate and filmmaker. Boochani was a writer and editor for the Kurdish language magazine Werya in Iran. He is a Visiting Professor, Birkbeck Law School; Associate Professor in Social Sciences at UNSW; non-resident Visitin... Read more

@BehrouzBoochani

Moones Mansoubi

Moones Mansoubi is a community, arts and cultural development worker based in Sydney. Her work is dedicated mainly to supporting and collaborating with migrants and people seeking asylum in Australia. She has managed numerous community and cultural projects and the first translator of Behrouz Booc... Read more

@Moones_M

Omid Tofighian

Omid Tofighian is an award-winning lecturer, researcher and community advocate, combining philosophy with interests in citizen media, popular culture, displacement and discrimination. He completed his PhD in philosophy at Leiden University, Netherlands, and graduated with a combined honours degree i... Read more

Richard Flanagan

Richard Flanagan’s novels have received numerous honours and are published in forty-two countries. He won the Booker Prize for The Narrow Road to the Deep North and the Commonwealth Prize for Gould’s Book of Fish. A rapid on the Franklin River is named after him.