Advance Praise for While the Earth Sleeps We Travel: Stories, Poetry, and Art from Young Refugees Around the World
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“Ahmed shows that the creative spirit of a person forced to flee or compelled to migrate cannot be squelched by bombs, confinement or fear. In giving young uprooted people this platform to express their singular experience through words and art, he also connects them, and himself to all of humanity. With his own stirring poems and art woven through, it is clear his own refugee childhood gave him the impetus to become the remarkable artist he is, but also to inspire the incredible talent of the voices reflected in the work on each and every page of this treasure of a book.”
–Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, United Nations
“These are precious stories, which have been carefully collected and sensitively told. Badr exposes the richness, diversity and sheer beauty of the inner worlds of young people who have experienced displacement.”
–Hassan Damluji, Deputy Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and author of The Responsible Globalist
“This collection of life-affirming artistic expressions from youth around the world is a testament to the power of storytelling & the many beautiful contradictions that the liminal spaces of identity politics can often embody. In his role as both witness & facilitator, Ahmed Badr has done a brilliant job of weaving his own poignant reflections throughout this book, while uplifting the voices of his peers in a generous & thoughtful way. As an immigrant from Syria who began my own poetic journey during my teenage years, I am in awe of these young people who are facing such profound challenges with levels of eloquence, vision & resolve that usually take a lifetime to muster.”
–Omar Offendum, Syrian-American Poet & Rapper
“This book is an extraordinary showcase of international creativity—the power of the expressions featured transcends any borders or tragedies, and serves as a vital reminder that displaced young people must be allowed to claim their place on the world’s biggest stages. Ahmed Badr recognizes the inextricable relationship between agency and storytelling, and is on the forefront of helping others do the same. By thoughtfully and delicately highlighting the unrestrained creative potential of resilient young people, this book invites a more critical engagement with the differences we assume about one another, and the distances we can bridge by sharing our own stories.”
–Benj Pasek, Tony Award-Winning Composer of Dear Evan Hansen
“Ahmed Badr's personal experience has thrust upon him a sense of social responsibility found in persons far in advance of his age. This collection forms a mosaic of talents from various backgrounds including some groundbreaking poetry and art by teenagers and young adults whose talents have been dismissed and neglected for far too long.”
–Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi, Founder, Barjeel Art Foundation
“One of Ahmed's poems explores why he survived the bomb that destroyed his childhood home. It says, "tragedies always end with a period, but yours ended with a semicolon." This book is what comes after the semicolon. The chorus of voices of young people from places as diverse as Venezuela, Somalia, Syria, and Bangladesh, will reaffirm your faith in human resilience and challenge your assumptions about what it means to be a refugee.”
–Ari Shapiro, Host, NPR’s All Things Considered
“While the Earth Sleeps We Travel” is a moving compilation of stories of refugees who each have a powerful story to tell but also have much in common. What makes this book so much more powerful is that rather than describe them, Ahmed Badr gives these refugees a chance to tell their own story in their own way. Whether it is in a poem, image or story, it is hard not to feel a personal connection with the young men and women Ahmed has brought together.
…The author beautifully tackles beginnings and endings for refugees and yet all timelines are mixed up for a refugee. The longing to return is mixed with the longing to fit into the new adopted country. Family, identity and belonging are all themes that come up time and again in this book. As the world continues to grapple with the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people on record, this book converts statistics into names and individual stories that should and do matter. It will leave you feeling both sadness at the suffering millions endure but also filled with hope in learning about these exceptional individuals.”
–Mina Al-Oraibi, Iraqi journalist and Editor in Chief of The National Newspaper