On 6 & 7 April 2018 Keynote speaker, renowned poet and performer, Patience Agbabi spoke at the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling in Storytelling for Refuge/Storytelling as Refuge.

Following on from our two most recent symposia, looking at themes of justice and place respectively, this year’s symposium explored an important cross section of these themes: storytelling as a means of creating awareness of refugee and migrant issues, as well as its ability to provide moments of refuge in the midst of chaotic events. In a world where migration and refugees are constant talking points in political and cultural spheres, story and storytelling take on crucial roles in crafting and shaping narratives around migration and refuge. But story can also act as refuge; as a sanctuary for the lost, for the wanderer, and those who seek spaces of literal or metaphorical peace.

This symposium explored these and related themes. Delegate were provoked to think of connected themes of storytelling and diaspora, storytelling as a means of escape, storytelling as shelter or sanctuary. Our aim was to inspire, encourage and showcase exciting projects across a wide spectrum of storytelling activity. The two-day event took place on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th April 2018 in The Atrium, University of South Wales.

If you have any queries relating to the symposium please contact Denis Cryer-Lennon on denis.cryer-lennon@southwales.ac.uk 

To read more about this year’s symposium please visit our website

Featured image: Webpage banner for University of South Wales Research and the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling. Available at: http://storytelling.research.southwales.ac.uk/symposium/ [Accessed on: 1 May 2018].