Dina Nayeri Books

A timely, provocative and personal examination of the refugee experience

An unflinching look at ten young lives suspended outside of time--and bravely proceeding anyway--inside the Katsikas refugee camp in Greece.Every war, famine, and flood spits out survivors.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cites an unprecedented 71 million forcibly displaced people on the planet today. In 2018, Dina Nayeri--a former refugee herself and the daughter of a refugee--invited documentary photographer Anna Bosch Miralpeix to accompany her to Katsikas, a refugee camp outside Ioannina, Greece, to record the hopes and struggles of ten of them--siblings and friends from Iran and Afghanistan. "I wanted to play with them, to enter their imagined worlds, to see the landscape inside their minds," she says. Ranging in age from five to seventeen, the children live in partitioned shipping-crate homes crowded on a field below a mountain. Robbed of curiosity and purpose, dignity and identity, each battles the dreary monster of a paused life.Ten lyrical passages lead one into the next, punctuated by intimate photographs, to reveal the dreams, ambitions, and personalities of each displaced child, followed by a powerful account of the author's own experiences in a camp. Locking the global refugee crisis sharply in focus, The Waiting Place is, finally, an urgent call to change what we teach young people about the nature of home and safety.

Nayeri's exploration of exile is both tender and urgent, capturing the complexities of displacement. The narrative possesses a memoir-like immediacy, lending it intimacy and atmosphere. With crystalline and vivid prose, Nayeri addresses timely themes that resonate universally, particularly the immigrant experience and the search for belonging. The novel highlights the relationship between an Iranian father and daughter, revealing the beauty and pain of their divergent experiences of exile. It poses essential questions about home, especially for those navigating cultural divides within families. As a former Iranian refugee, Nayeri crafts a nuanced narrative that reflects the current global refugee crisis through the lens of familial bonds. The story of Niloo and her father unveils the struggles of immigrants and the emotional weight of seeking sanctuary. Gentle humor and evocative language illuminate the individuality of those caught between love for their homeland and the need for refuge. This richly imagined work deftly intertwines personal, political, and cultural threads, resulting in a poignant and often humorous exploration of what it means to seek refuge. Set against a backdrop of political unrest, the novel offers a captivating portrayal of lives straddling different worlds, making it a vital read for anyone striving to understand the complexities of displacement and home.

The prizewinning author of The Ungrateful Refugee asks who is believed in our society, who is not - and why? 'Ambitious and moving... it will cement Nayeri's position as a master storyteller of the refugee experience' Guardian Dina Nayeri's wide-ranging, groundbreaking new book combines deep reportage with her own life experience to examine what constitutes believability in our society. Intent on exploring ideas of persuasion and performance, Nayeri takes us behind the scenes in emergency rooms, corporate boardrooms, asylum interviews and into her own family, to ask - where lies the difference between being believed and being dismissed? What does this mean for our culture? As personal as it is profound in its reflections on language, history, morality and compassion, Who Gets Believed? investigates the unspoken social codes that determine how we relate to one another. 'An important, courageous, brilliant book' Robert Macfarlane, bestselling author of Underland 'Dina Nayeri asks an incredibly important question, and the answers she finds are crucial for all of us' Oliver Bullough, bestselling author of Butler to the World 'I was hugely moved by this book. Who Gets Believed? is essential reading, an extraordinary labour of love and hope that is destined to become indispensable in the continuing struggle for justice' John Burnside, winner of the David Cohen Prize for Literature 2023

An ancient Egyptian spell transforms the Marlowe School into a dark underworld, drawing sixteen-year-old Wendy and her brother John into a perilous adventure. Their discovery of THE BOOK OF GATES leads them to unleash sinister forces lurking beneath Manhattan. As the school becomes increasingly haunted, a charming new R.A. named Peter reveals the dire consequences of their actions. This sequel reimagines Peter Pan, blending themes of immortality with a gripping, atmospheric fantasy that explores the dangers of curiosity and power.

Years after vanishing, five teens reappear with a strange governess, and when they enter New York City's most prestigious high school, they soar to suspicious heights with the help of their benefactor's extraordinary "gifts."

Saba ist elf Jahre alt, als zwei einschneidende Ereignisse ihr Leben verändern. Die Islamische Revolution zwingt Sabas wohlhabende christliche Familie dazu, Teheran zu verlassen und sich fern von den prüfenden Blicken der Mullahs auf ihre Ländereien in der Gilan-Provinz zurückzuziehen. Kurz darauf verschwinden ihre Mutter und ihre Zwillingsschwester Mahtab spurlos. Ihr Vater und die Nachbarn im Dorf behaupten, Mahtab sei bei einem nächtlichen Bad im Kaspischen Meer ertrunken und die Mutter sei bei dem Versuch, den Iran zu verlassen, festgenommen worden. Doch Saba glaubt an eine ganz andere Geschichte: Immer wieder erzählt sie ihrer besten Freundin Ponneh und dem Jungen Reza, den sie liebt, Episoden aus dem filmreifen Leben, das die beiden Vermissten inzwischen in den USA führen. Als Saba erwachsen wird, muss sie sich jedoch immer drängenderen Fragen stellen: Was ist Wahrheit und was ist Lüge? Darf Liebe ein Grund sein, sich selbst zu verleugnen? Und wann ist es an der Zeit, eigene Entscheidungen zu treffen und sein Schicksal in die Hand zu nehmen?

Ob einem geglaubt wird oder nicht, entscheidet die Gesellschaft anhand unausgesprochener Regeln und Verhaltensweisen. Aber was, wenn Glaubwürdigkeit im Grunde ein Privileg ist, das nur Eingeweihten vorbehalten ist, die von Geburt an die entsprechenden sozialen Codes kennen und verwenden? Was bedeutet das für diejenigen, denen nicht geglaubt wird? Diesen Fragen geht Dina Nayeri in ihrem neuen Buch nach, das Reportage, Essay, Memoir und philosophische Betrachtung zugleich ist. Sie nimmt uns mit in Verhörräume und Gerichtssäle, in die Geschäftsetagen der Hochfinanz, in die Klassenzimmer ihrer Schulzeit und in ihre eigene Familie, um zu zeigen, wie sehr wir alle davon abhängig sind, dass die anderen uns Glauben und Vertrauen schenken.