NU-Q selects Dina Nayeri novel for One Book

'Refuge', a novel by internationally celebrated Iranian-American writer Dina Nayeri, is Northwestern University in Qatar’s ( NU-Q) selection for its 2021 One Book initiative.

The One Book programme invites students, faculty, and staff to read the selected novel and participate in a series of related programmes and activities that include book clubs, classroom discussions, and a visit and reading from the author. One Book is designed to engage the community in a shared experience that promotes critical thinking and interdisciplinary learning.“Dina Nayeri’s 'Refuge' tells a tale of a moving lifetime relationship and weaves its story to resonate with the experience of foreignness and alienation of immigrants and refugees,” said Marwan M Kraidy, dean and CEO of Northwestern Qatar. “Our One Book selection this year will help our community advance the public discussion and contribute to the conversation on the multiple aspects of the larger contemporary refugee experience.”Refuge follows the journey of an eight-year-old Iranian girl, Niloo, as she transforms from a young refugee into a Western transplant. As Niloo yearns for reconnection with her father and her birth country, the novel continues the themes of family separation and the refugee’s search for home explored in Nayeri’s lauded debut, 'A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea'. Nayeri is also the author of a nonfiction book on the same topic, 'The Ungrateful Refugee'. Nayeri is the winner of the Geschwister Scholl Preis and finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Kirkus Prize and Elle Grand Prix des Lectrices. Her work has been published in more than 20 countries and in 'The New York Times', 'The Guardian', 'The Washington Post', 'The New Yorker,' 'Granta' and many other publications. Her short dramas have also been produced by the English Touring Theatre and The Old Vic in London.'Refuge' joins a list of books by internationally acclaimed writers who were selected for the One Book programme, including 'Salt Houses' by Palestinian-American novelist Hala Alyan and 'Celestial Bodies' by Omani writer Jokha Alharthi.