Breach

Displacement is as old as our need for home. In the port of Calais, an illusion is being disrupted: that of a neatly ordered world, with those deserving safety and comfort separated from those who need to be kept out. breach tells the story of the refugee crisis through six voices based on interviews with refugees in Calais. These stories uncover realities of fleeing one's country by any means necessary. They demand to be seen, to be heard, to be let in. But can we ignore the fears of the ones who want to close their borders? Why Peirene chose to commission this book: 'I have commissioned Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes to go to the Calais refugee camps to distil stories into a work of fiction about escape, hope and aspiration. On another level, however, this work will also take seriously the fears of people in this country who want to close their borders. It's that dialogue that isn't happening in real life. A work of art can help to bridge the...