CWR Book Club

 
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The CWR Book Club kicked off in October 2020. We meet every other month, on the first Tuesday of the month. All are welcome to join us to discuss the book. And there’s no pressure if you haven’t read the book but are still interested in hearing what people thought about it! It might be just the motivation you need to pick it up! 

The CWR Book Club runs in coordination with Lives of Colour, and the aim of the group is to read diverse books that spark challenging and interesting conversations about issues affecting refugees and migrants, and promoting the Black Lives Matter movement. 

We were previously meeting on zoom but have now moved to in person meet ups. Do check our events page for confirmation or email chelt.refugees.community@gmail.com.

Upcoming Book Club Dates:

  • Tuesday 7 January 2025 - The Silence of the Choir by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr. We’ll be meeting at 6:30pm in The Swan pub, High Street, Cheltenham.

The info or zoom links for the meetings will be published via our Events calendar nearer the time.

Here’s the list of amazing books we’ve read in previous book clubs: 

  • 1 August 2023 - An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie

  • 17 October 2023 - Zoli by Colum McCann

  • 5 December 2023 - Cane, Corn & Gully by Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa

  • 6 February 2024 - Azadi by Arundhati Roy

  • 2 April 2024 - Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So

  • 4 June 2024 - People Like Us by Hashi Mohammad

  • 6 August 2024 - Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

  • 7 October 2024 - Silence is My Mother Tongue by Sulaiman Addonia

 
 
 

International Book Giving Day

We have now run three very successful International Book Giving Day campaigns since 2021.

Thank you to everyone who helped us to mark International Book Giving Day on 14th February 2023 by donating an amazing 60 books! We have distributed the books to people seeking asylum and the refugee families, who can’t wait to improve their English and dive into the stories.

Charles W. Eliot said, ‘Books are the quietest and most constant of friends, they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.’ We know people receiving these books will love their new friends. 

The 2023 campaign and 2022 campaign (where we collected 70 books!) was a follow up to the original 2021 success where we worked with The Suffolk Anthology to crowdsource and distribute books for children from refugee families - finally receiving orders for over 50 books!

We bought out the complete stock at the distributors for Arabic/English language books, which shows the incredible difference our supporters make.

Some feedback from Cheltenham Volunteer Teachers volunteers who distributed the books:

‘K knew all about 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' as they had read some of it at school, so he was very pleased to get his own copy.’

‘The family were very grateful to receive the books.’

‘The Arabic/English text has proved very popular, and I think the mother reads it every evening. The young girls cannot read Arabic, but are enjoying following the English text.’

‘Thanks for the books on behalf of O and R.’

THANK YOU!

70 books for children and adults and text saying THANK YOU.
 

Suggested Reading

If you’d like to find some resources on fiction and non-fiction on themes of migration and what refugees go through, we’ve compiled a comprehensive reading list of suggested titles!