‘The most important work of contemporary reporting I have ever read’ Sally Rooney on My Fourth Time, We Drowned

‘A captivating journey across continents, history and culture.’ Jan Carson on I Don’t Want to Talk About Home

Award-winning journalist & photographer Sally Hayden (My Fourth Time We Drowned) and debut memoirist & data scientist Suad Aldarra (I Don’t Want to Talk About Home) join author, journalist & correspondent Ed O’Loughlin for a closer look at the migrant crisis and the state of the world’s borders.

In an unmissable and wide-ranging conversation, Hayden & Aldarra examine the difficult, often deadly paths taken by migrants, the myriad reasons behind these movements, and the impact they have on the world at large. Tracking the experiences of refugees, including Aldarra’s personal experience with migration, both books offer up-close perspectives on the many ways we move across borders and who is and is not welcome to move freely. Along with moderator Ed O’Loughlin, these two authors shed a searing light on one of the most critical conversations unfolding today.

In My Fourth Time We Drowned, Hayden takes a closer look at how the treatment of refugees has become one of the most devastating human rights disasters in our history in a staggering investigation into the migrant crisis across North Africa. From the negligence of NGOs and corruption within the United Nations to the economics of the twenty-first-century slave trade, she raises the question — who is accountable for the abuse? And why isn’t it being widely reported?

In I Don’t Want to Talk About Home, Suad Aldarra shares her experience of growing up in conservative Saudi Arabia, feeling stifled by the strictures placed on women, and finding escape when the opportunity arose to study at Damascus University. But when the war started, everything changed.

Presented in partnership with Literature Ireland.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Juan Villoro is no longer able to join us for this event as originally scheduled. We apologise for any disappointment.