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The
2007 Award
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The Marsh Birds by Eva Sallis
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Nominated by:
Publisher
of Nominated Edition
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| the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors |
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ABOUT
THE BOOK
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| This
is the story of Dhurgham, a young Iraqi who has lost everything. A powerful,
exquisitely written novel that gives a human face to the experiences of
exile and migration. Dhurgham As-Samarra'i is a twelve-year-old boy, the youngest child in a middle-class Baghdadi family. He finds himself at the Great Mosque in Damascus in Syria, not knowing what has happened to his parents and sister who fled Baghdad with him. The only thing he knows is that he was told that if the family became separated they were to meet at the Mosque. Alone, he waits and waits. This is the story of what befalls Dhurgham after he realises his family won't be turning up; it is the story of his journey into adulthood, his journey through bitterness to forgiveness, and his journey from Iraq to Syria, to Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Detained after arriving in Australia, Dhurgham, resilient yet unable to deal with his past, becomes an untried criminal existing in limbo as his file is processed. Fleetingly, New Zealand offers a refuge, family and affection but he is caught again in a nightmare of red-tape and confinement until his hope turns into anger and his past must be faced and resolved. What do you do when you belong nowhere, with no family, no homeland, and no hope for the future? Who do you become? A
searingly honest story about separation, journeys and unbearable injustice. |
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
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Eva Sallis was born in Bendigo. She has an MA in literature and a PhD in comparative literature from The University of Adelaide. She won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1997 for her first novel, Hiam. Eva's second novel, The City of Sealions, was published in 2002, followed by the winner of the Steele Rudd Award, Mahjar in 2003 and Fire Fire in 2004. Prizes
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© 2007 Dublin City Public Libraries
