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Breach
In the refugee camp known as The Jungle 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.
Calais is a border town. Between France and Britain. Between us and them. The eight short stories in this collection explore the refugee crisis through fiction. They give voice to the hopes and fears of both sides. Dlo and Jan break into refrigerated trucks bound for the UK. Marjorie, a volunteer, is happy to mingle in the camps until her niece goes a step too far. Mariam lies to her mother back home. With humour, insight and empathy, breach tackles an issue that we can no longer ignore.
breach is the first title in the Peirene Now! series. This exciting new series will be made up of commissioned works of new fiction, which engage with the political issues of the day. In breach, the authors beautifully capture a multiplicity of voices - refugees, volunteers, angry citizens – whilst deftly charting a clear narrative path through it all. Each story is different in tone, and yet they complement one another perfectly. Taken as a whole, this stands as an empathetic and probing collage, where the words ‘home’, ‘displacement’ and ‘integration’ come to mean many things as the collection progresses to a moving finale.
Calais is a border town. Between France and Britain. Between us and them. The eight short stories in this collection explore the refugee crisis through fiction. They give voice to the hopes and fears of both sides. Dlo and Jan break into refrigerated trucks bound for the UK. Marjorie, a volunteer, is happy to mingle in the camps until her niece goes a step too far. Mariam lies to her mother back home. With humour, insight and empathy, breach tackles an issue that we can no longer ignore.
breach is the first title in the Peirene Now! series. This exciting new series will be made up of commissioned works of new fiction, which engage with the political issues of the day. In breach, the authors beautifully capture a multiplicity of voices - refugees, volunteers, angry citizens – whilst deftly charting a clear narrative path through it all. Each story is different in tone, and yet they complement one another perfectly. Taken as a whole, this stands as an empathetic and probing collage, where the words ‘home’, ‘displacement’ and ‘integration’ come to mean many things as the collection progresses to a moving finale.
160 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2016
6 people are currently reading
188 people want to read
About the author
Olumide Popoola
11 books50 followersLondon-based Nigerian-German Olumide Popoola is a writer, speaker and performer.
Her publications include essays, poetry, the novella this is not about sadness (Unrast, 2010), the play text Also by Mail (edition assemblage, 2013), the short collection breach, which she co-authored with Annie Holmes (Peirene Press, 2016), as well as recordings in collaboration with musicians.
In 2004 she won the May Ayim Award in the category Poetry, the first Black German Literary Award. Olumide has a PhD in Creative Writing and has lectured in creative writing at various universities.
Her novel When We Speak of Nothing was published by Cassava Republic Press in July 2017.
Her publications include essays, poetry, the novella this is not about sadness (Unrast, 2010), the play text Also by Mail (edition assemblage, 2013), the short collection breach, which she co-authored with Annie Holmes (Peirene Press, 2016), as well as recordings in collaboration with musicians.
In 2004 she won the May Ayim Award in the category Poetry, the first Black German Literary Award. Olumide has a PhD in Creative Writing and has lectured in creative writing at various universities.
Her novel When We Speak of Nothing was published by Cassava Republic Press in July 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 22, 2016
Calais is an important port city in the north of France, as it is the closest point between France and England, with only 21 miles of the English Channel separating the two countries via the Strait of Dover. Hundreds of ferries traverse the strait between Calais and Dover daily, and the nearby Channel Tunnel transports thousands of people via passenger rail, private vehicles and lorries.
The city of Calais is home to over 125,000 residents, and 10 million people visit it annually. However, it has recently become infamous for the collection of refugee camps, known as The Jungle, which provided a temporary stoppage point for up to 8,000 emigrants from Africa and the Middle East who wished to travel to the United Kingdom to seek greater opportunities, freedom and safety from their war torn lands, particularly in Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Iran.
Peirene Press, an independent publisher of European literature, commissioned two Black British writers, Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes, to visit the refugee camps and write short stories about the lives of those who reside in the camps, the volunteers that assist them, and the people who live in the city legally. Each author wrote four largely disconnected stories for this book.
Popoola and Holmes provide fleeting glimpses into the lives of the camps' inhabitants, who generally live amongst their fellow countrymen and come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. They include several young impatient Sudanese teenage boys who seek to reunite with close relatives; a North African woman whose mother is seriously ill and in desperate need of money to pay for hospital care, who decides to earn money the only way she knows how; a young Englishwoman who volunteers in the camp, to the disapproval of her father, and falls in love with one of the refugees; a camp strongman, who arranges for those who can pay to be carried in lorries by smugglers through the Channel Tunnel; and a local woman who agrees to house two young Iranian immigrants for reimbursement by the government, as the refugee crisis has led to a decline in guests wishing to stay in her B&B.
Breach was an interesting look into the refugee camps in Calais, from a variety of vantage points. The subjects of the stories were not fully portrayed, though, which may have been a difficult if not impossible task for the authors, given the short amount of time they presumably stayed in the camps and the large number of people they encountered there. The camps were disbanded by French authorities in late October of this year, and its residents were sent to other accommodation centers throughout the country. However, an article this week in The Independent indicated that many of the children were not receiving psychological counseling or adequate social support, and as a result many of them wish to return to Calais in order to emigrate to the United Kingdom. (3½ stars)
The city of Calais is home to over 125,000 residents, and 10 million people visit it annually. However, it has recently become infamous for the collection of refugee camps, known as The Jungle, which provided a temporary stoppage point for up to 8,000 emigrants from Africa and the Middle East who wished to travel to the United Kingdom to seek greater opportunities, freedom and safety from their war torn lands, particularly in Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Iran.
Peirene Press, an independent publisher of European literature, commissioned two Black British writers, Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes, to visit the refugee camps and write short stories about the lives of those who reside in the camps, the volunteers that assist them, and the people who live in the city legally. Each author wrote four largely disconnected stories for this book.
Popoola and Holmes provide fleeting glimpses into the lives of the camps' inhabitants, who generally live amongst their fellow countrymen and come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. They include several young impatient Sudanese teenage boys who seek to reunite with close relatives; a North African woman whose mother is seriously ill and in desperate need of money to pay for hospital care, who decides to earn money the only way she knows how; a young Englishwoman who volunteers in the camp, to the disapproval of her father, and falls in love with one of the refugees; a camp strongman, who arranges for those who can pay to be carried in lorries by smugglers through the Channel Tunnel; and a local woman who agrees to house two young Iranian immigrants for reimbursement by the government, as the refugee crisis has led to a decline in guests wishing to stay in her B&B.
Breach was an interesting look into the refugee camps in Calais, from a variety of vantage points. The subjects of the stories were not fully portrayed, though, which may have been a difficult if not impossible task for the authors, given the short amount of time they presumably stayed in the camps and the large number of people they encountered there. The camps were disbanded by French authorities in late October of this year, and its residents were sent to other accommodation centers throughout the country. However, an article this week in The Independent indicated that many of the children were not receiving psychological counseling or adequate social support, and as a result many of them wish to return to Calais in order to emigrate to the United Kingdom. (3½ stars)
July 29, 2016
I received an ARC from Peirene Press.
breach is a series of eight short stories that all focus on the plight of the refugee and the ripple effect that their presence has on the lives of everyone with whom they come in contact. The refugees in these short stories are from different countries and have made their way to this camp in Calais which is referred to as The Jungle. It is a type of holding place, a purgatory, where they are caught between the horrors of their past lives and their hopes of finding a future in Britain.
The first thought I had as I was reading breach was that these poor, downtrodden refugees must have witnessed the worst kinds of conditions and horrors in their homelands. What would make someone leave home, cross an ocean, and risk death in order to find a new place to live? The cold, the damp, the small spaces in the tents were all vividly described in these stories. One refugee states that The Jungle is bad, but his home was pure hell.
The stories also highlight the volunteer workers and locals who are trying to help the refugees. The town, in general, does not want the camp there and the people are kept in own makeshift town by the constant presence of police. The story, “The Terrier” poignantly illustrates the mistrust between refugees and locals. A woman who owns a Bed and Breakfast in Calais is asked to take in two refugees, a brother and sister. Since she has no customers and is in need of income, this local resident agrees to give the refugees room and board for a fee. The woman tries to have as little contact with the young man and woman as possible. She questions and distrusts everything they tell her. But as she interacts with them she gradually comes to have sympathy for their wretched situation. Although this brother and sister have a much more comfortable place to stay than most, they still return to The Jungle every day to see their friends. They are outsiders in Calais and sadly enough the only place they feel “at home” is in the camp.
I am so glad that Peirene has commissioned a series of books like breach that will bring understanding to the plight of refugees and shine a spotlight on other policial and social issues that have arisen around the world. At times this book was difficult to read because it brought the realities of human suffering to a level that up to this point I did not fully understand. It is my hope that breach will be widely read and will make us all more sensitive to the suffering of refugees.
breach is a series of eight short stories that all focus on the plight of the refugee and the ripple effect that their presence has on the lives of everyone with whom they come in contact. The refugees in these short stories are from different countries and have made their way to this camp in Calais which is referred to as The Jungle. It is a type of holding place, a purgatory, where they are caught between the horrors of their past lives and their hopes of finding a future in Britain.
The first thought I had as I was reading breach was that these poor, downtrodden refugees must have witnessed the worst kinds of conditions and horrors in their homelands. What would make someone leave home, cross an ocean, and risk death in order to find a new place to live? The cold, the damp, the small spaces in the tents were all vividly described in these stories. One refugee states that The Jungle is bad, but his home was pure hell.
The stories also highlight the volunteer workers and locals who are trying to help the refugees. The town, in general, does not want the camp there and the people are kept in own makeshift town by the constant presence of police. The story, “The Terrier” poignantly illustrates the mistrust between refugees and locals. A woman who owns a Bed and Breakfast in Calais is asked to take in two refugees, a brother and sister. Since she has no customers and is in need of income, this local resident agrees to give the refugees room and board for a fee. The woman tries to have as little contact with the young man and woman as possible. She questions and distrusts everything they tell her. But as she interacts with them she gradually comes to have sympathy for their wretched situation. Although this brother and sister have a much more comfortable place to stay than most, they still return to The Jungle every day to see their friends. They are outsiders in Calais and sadly enough the only place they feel “at home” is in the camp.
I am so glad that Peirene has commissioned a series of books like breach that will bring understanding to the plight of refugees and shine a spotlight on other policial and social issues that have arisen around the world. At times this book was difficult to read because it brought the realities of human suffering to a level that up to this point I did not fully understand. It is my hope that breach will be widely read and will make us all more sensitive to the suffering of refugees.
March 22, 2021
A very thought provoking series of short stories, and relevant to so much that is currently in the news. I think this book will stay with me for some time.
February 5, 2017
J'ai vraiment adoré ce recueil de nouvelles plus que jamais d'actualité qui nous emmène à Calais au coeur de la Jungle, avec les peurs et espoirs des migrants.
Une lecture presque indispensable dans un contexte où l'humain passe souvent en second plan.
Une lecture presque indispensable dans un contexte où l'humain passe souvent en second plan.
July 28, 2016
The first in the "Peirene Now!" series, this book fits the description well, telling the stories of those based around the "Calais jungle". The authors' stories are based on their experience in Calais and take in not just the refugees, but also the charity workers and residents of Calais. The result is a moving book which does not shy away from the wider complexity of the situation, and above all shows us individuals. A welcome counterbalance to the racist British press, and, along with other recent works (such as the BBC documentary Exodus), is putting a human face to the "migrant crisis".
October 18, 2016
In the sprawling Calais refugee camp known as The Jungle, desperate people wait for an opportunity, legal or otherwise, to make it across the UK. As they wait, they dream of their futures, build makeshift hospitals, queue for haircuts, learn the flute, lie – via the ever-present mobile phones – about their lives to their families back home.
Full review and discussion
Migrants and where they might come from http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...
Full review and discussion
Migrants and where they might come from http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/1/post/...
February 20, 2023
This novella is composed of 8 short stories based on the experiences of refugees at the Calais border trying to get into the UK. An insight into that the camp - the Jungle - is like, it humanises the nameless mass of refugees that we so often hear about. The collection addresses what the place of home means, when time stands still and your life is interrupted. Calais is depicted as a place where women are exploited, people are filled with distrust, your nationality (a mere luck of the draw) decides how easily you may travel.
What runs through is the fact that time is paused at the camp, indefinitely, and living becomes simply 'doing' time, until your life may resume in a completely foreign country. in this way, the 'Jungle' is the space in which prior kinship ties are torn apart and must be rebuilt with hesitancy as the future is non-existent, and the past is constantly relived.
What runs through is the fact that time is paused at the camp, indefinitely, and living becomes simply 'doing' time, until your life may resume in a completely foreign country. in this way, the 'Jungle' is the space in which prior kinship ties are torn apart and must be rebuilt with hesitancy as the future is non-existent, and the past is constantly relived.
July 23, 2016
breach, by Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes, is the first title in the Peirene Now! series, commissioned works of new fiction which engage with the political issues of the day. Set in the Calais refugee camp known as The Jungle, the eight short stories in this collection explore the current refugee crisis in Europe. As Popoola says:
“These are stories of complex characters with dreams and fears, lives that started long before they found themselves in Calais.”
The stories offer insight into the lives of the residents of The Jungle and their relationships with family back home. They look at the feared people smugglers so essential to the refugees’ journey, and at the people in France and the UK who fear the refugees impact on their neatly ordered world.
The collection opens with ‘Counting Down’, a story of waiting, of strangers who become friends yet are never really close. The residents of The Jungle are not one homogenous mass. They come from many countries, bound only by their desperation to reach the UK. At any moment their loyalty can turn.
‘The Terrier’ looks at the refugees through the eyes of a French local who offers to accommodate two young Syrians in exchange for payment from the City Council. Although she sympathises with the youngsters plight there is a lack of trust, on both sides. The refugees are lonely in this house so return to the camp for friendship despite the squalor. The landlady hides her involvement from friends who complain of the refugees proximity and the trouble they bring.
‘Extending a Hand’ tells the story of two young Ethiopian women. They are grateful for the dry clothes handed out by volunteers yet resent that they are a position that requires such help.
“No one makes trousers for your shape. The pair you picked yesterday aren’t the loose-fitting ones volunteers think are suitable […] Why people think they know what’s best for you when they are not you, you don’t understand […] Dignity involves choosing your own outfits, at least”
The women have not told their families back home about conditions in the camp, pretending that all is well and they have jobs. Now demands are being made to send their earnings home, and there is only one way that a women in this camp can earn.
‘Paradise’ offers the camp from the perspective of the volunteers who hand out tents, sleeping bags and donated clothes. They feel good about helping, perhaps not recognising how they are often despised by the refugees. What they do not want though is to become too involved, as happens when Marjorie brings her teenage niece along to help. Marjorie is forced to recognise the hypocracy of her situation and this makes her angry. The refugees also do not wish for too close an involvement. When the volunteers leave to go home and the refugees cannot, this causes pain.
‘Ghosts’ looks at the precarious and often violent world of the people smugglers. It helps explain why there is so little trust in the camp, why people are reluctant to engage and tell their stories.
‘Lineage’ simmers with the resentments felt by those forced to stay calm when their lives have been blown apart. The Jungle is not one big happy family. It is populated by mud and desperation.
‘Oranges in the River’ tells of the constant battle to escape, to find a way to get to the UK by whatever means. However risky the endeavour, this is why The Jungle exists.
‘Expect Me’ is set in the UK. Alghali has made it across the channel and is studying hard to learn English and accounting. He visits Mr Dishman, an elderly local, to improve his ability to converse in this new language that, when his papers come through, he may find work. Mr Dishman talks of Europe being overrun. Alghali believes there is no other way for him to move forward with his life. He is mourning the death of a young friend who died trying to make it to England. He is blamed for a terrorist attack.
Even after reading these stories I pondered why the refugees chose the UK as their destination. It is understandable why they flee but not why other supposedly safe countries are rejected. Perhaps it is the language, the fact that some had learned English before. Perhaps it is because when they ring home they do not admit how bad things are. They make it sound as though they have jobs and safety, thereby encouraging the next set of refugees to follow in their wake.
The authors have produced poignant, challenging stories that facilitate an empathy that is often missing when these issues are discussed. If the human tide is to be slowed then the causes need to be addressed.
Through fiction, tales like these can help to bridge the gap in understanding between cultures. This is an important but also a satisfying read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Peirene Press.
“These are stories of complex characters with dreams and fears, lives that started long before they found themselves in Calais.”
The stories offer insight into the lives of the residents of The Jungle and their relationships with family back home. They look at the feared people smugglers so essential to the refugees’ journey, and at the people in France and the UK who fear the refugees impact on their neatly ordered world.
The collection opens with ‘Counting Down’, a story of waiting, of strangers who become friends yet are never really close. The residents of The Jungle are not one homogenous mass. They come from many countries, bound only by their desperation to reach the UK. At any moment their loyalty can turn.
‘The Terrier’ looks at the refugees through the eyes of a French local who offers to accommodate two young Syrians in exchange for payment from the City Council. Although she sympathises with the youngsters plight there is a lack of trust, on both sides. The refugees are lonely in this house so return to the camp for friendship despite the squalor. The landlady hides her involvement from friends who complain of the refugees proximity and the trouble they bring.
‘Extending a Hand’ tells the story of two young Ethiopian women. They are grateful for the dry clothes handed out by volunteers yet resent that they are a position that requires such help.
“No one makes trousers for your shape. The pair you picked yesterday aren’t the loose-fitting ones volunteers think are suitable […] Why people think they know what’s best for you when they are not you, you don’t understand […] Dignity involves choosing your own outfits, at least”
The women have not told their families back home about conditions in the camp, pretending that all is well and they have jobs. Now demands are being made to send their earnings home, and there is only one way that a women in this camp can earn.
‘Paradise’ offers the camp from the perspective of the volunteers who hand out tents, sleeping bags and donated clothes. They feel good about helping, perhaps not recognising how they are often despised by the refugees. What they do not want though is to become too involved, as happens when Marjorie brings her teenage niece along to help. Marjorie is forced to recognise the hypocracy of her situation and this makes her angry. The refugees also do not wish for too close an involvement. When the volunteers leave to go home and the refugees cannot, this causes pain.
‘Ghosts’ looks at the precarious and often violent world of the people smugglers. It helps explain why there is so little trust in the camp, why people are reluctant to engage and tell their stories.
‘Lineage’ simmers with the resentments felt by those forced to stay calm when their lives have been blown apart. The Jungle is not one big happy family. It is populated by mud and desperation.
‘Oranges in the River’ tells of the constant battle to escape, to find a way to get to the UK by whatever means. However risky the endeavour, this is why The Jungle exists.
‘Expect Me’ is set in the UK. Alghali has made it across the channel and is studying hard to learn English and accounting. He visits Mr Dishman, an elderly local, to improve his ability to converse in this new language that, when his papers come through, he may find work. Mr Dishman talks of Europe being overrun. Alghali believes there is no other way for him to move forward with his life. He is mourning the death of a young friend who died trying to make it to England. He is blamed for a terrorist attack.
Even after reading these stories I pondered why the refugees chose the UK as their destination. It is understandable why they flee but not why other supposedly safe countries are rejected. Perhaps it is the language, the fact that some had learned English before. Perhaps it is because when they ring home they do not admit how bad things are. They make it sound as though they have jobs and safety, thereby encouraging the next set of refugees to follow in their wake.
The authors have produced poignant, challenging stories that facilitate an empathy that is often missing when these issues are discussed. If the human tide is to be slowed then the causes need to be addressed.
Through fiction, tales like these can help to bridge the gap in understanding between cultures. This is an important but also a satisfying read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Peirene Press.
August 18, 2016
When I first heard about the project, I assumed it would be non-fiction but the stories the authors heard in Calais have been combined and transformed into fiction. I think I would have liked to have read actual accounts but I understand the need for the anonymization fiction gives as well as the flexibility to show things a certain way. I tried to keep in mind that, whilst the characters were made up, the experiences, and feelings, were real ones.
The Jungle very much feels like a city in these stories, with a wide range of nationalities and people trying to get by. There’s a criminal element present too but also people running shops and building hospitals. In some ways you wonder why we don’t invest in making it a liveable place where people can be proud of what they’ve built, rather than a waiting room.
The stories cover life in the camp but also the journeys to and from it, the realities of smuggling and the dangers of sneaking in via lorry. The desperation of the women who sell their bodies for a few euros. There is a French B&B owner who takes in two refugee children, but she worries, not just what people might think if they knew but she also starts to doubt them, doubt her own mind. We see the transience of volunteers, who befriend refugees only to disappear out of their lives. There is a refugee who has made it to Britain only to face prejudice and blame.
It didn’t really go into why Britain is such a desirable place for refugees to aim for. The main thing I got was many of them spoke a little bit of English already, so learning a language from scratch was more of a barrier to settling elsewhere.
I felt the first story was the weakest and may put some people off, but overall the stories were strong humanised the refugees, whilst acknowledging problems. It doesn’t go into the political side, it’s more about the human side. It’s an important and timely book that shows a different side from what the media feeds us.
Review copy provided by publisher.
The Jungle very much feels like a city in these stories, with a wide range of nationalities and people trying to get by. There’s a criminal element present too but also people running shops and building hospitals. In some ways you wonder why we don’t invest in making it a liveable place where people can be proud of what they’ve built, rather than a waiting room.
The stories cover life in the camp but also the journeys to and from it, the realities of smuggling and the dangers of sneaking in via lorry. The desperation of the women who sell their bodies for a few euros. There is a French B&B owner who takes in two refugee children, but she worries, not just what people might think if they knew but she also starts to doubt them, doubt her own mind. We see the transience of volunteers, who befriend refugees only to disappear out of their lives. There is a refugee who has made it to Britain only to face prejudice and blame.
It didn’t really go into why Britain is such a desirable place for refugees to aim for. The main thing I got was many of them spoke a little bit of English already, so learning a language from scratch was more of a barrier to settling elsewhere.
I felt the first story was the weakest and may put some people off, but overall the stories were strong humanised the refugees, whilst acknowledging problems. It doesn’t go into the political side, it’s more about the human side. It’s an important and timely book that shows a different side from what the media feeds us.
Review copy provided by publisher.
January 1, 2017
These stories are a fascinating, revealing, tough read about the emotions and minutiae of life as a refugee. The authors spent time interviewing residents in The Jungle in Calais. Through the fictionalised stories, they have perhaps gone more deeply into the feelings, aspirations and motivations of people who are on the move than if they had been reporting conversations directly.
Some of the reasons for their journeys are the expected – war in the home country, persecution for religion or sexual orientation. More unexpected is the story of a man who had been living in England for many years after a tortuous migration at the age of 13, and who was now trying to return after leaving to go home to visit a sick mother.
Claustrophobia and fear are made real through the story Oranges in the River – the man who has spent too much time locked in the back of refrigerated trucks in order to make is far as he has. The images of the oranges, one stolen while sitting amongst hundreds, and others spilled into the river, are heart-rending. Young women dealing with their periods, people needing haircuts – these images show how ordinary events become huge struggles in the temporary space of the refugee camp.
An enlightening collection of poignant stories.
Some of the reasons for their journeys are the expected – war in the home country, persecution for religion or sexual orientation. More unexpected is the story of a man who had been living in England for many years after a tortuous migration at the age of 13, and who was now trying to return after leaving to go home to visit a sick mother.
Claustrophobia and fear are made real through the story Oranges in the River – the man who has spent too much time locked in the back of refrigerated trucks in order to make is far as he has. The images of the oranges, one stolen while sitting amongst hundreds, and others spilled into the river, are heart-rending. Young women dealing with their periods, people needing haircuts – these images show how ordinary events become huge struggles in the temporary space of the refugee camp.
An enlightening collection of poignant stories.
July 16, 2017
Breach is an eye-opener. It takes its reader into the lives of the refugees waiting in the Jungle (January 2015 - October 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais_...) at Calais. Refugees who are waiting to recover from the difficult journeys that brought them to Calais, waiting to leave on another journey to, they hope, the UK, waiting for the people-smugglers to find a lorry for them, waiting to find a legitimate way into the UK, waiting for a new life to begin. Hoping they won't die waiting.
It's a collection of eight stories written by two writers commissioned by the far-sighted Meike Zeirvogel @ Peirene Press. She asked Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes to go to the refugee camps to discover some of the refugees' stories, but also to discover how the people 'who want to close their borders' feel. The two writers distilled what they discovered into fictions that are moving, sometimes funny, always thoughtful and thought-provoking, sometimes disturbing: stories that left me wondering whether I'd be as resilient, as funny, as full of hope for a new life, whether I'd even have made it as far as Calais had I been unlucky enough to have had to flee my country. Whether I'd have had the courage to offer my body to a truck-driver for money for my escape; whether I'd have scrambled into a freezing lorry with no guarantee of safe arrival; whether I'd have managed to survive in the Jungle, let alone in my precarious life after it.
Breach is a window into a world so many of us will never have to live in. So the very least we can do is read about how life is / was for these refugees and think about what we might do to help.
It's a collection of eight stories written by two writers commissioned by the far-sighted Meike Zeirvogel @ Peirene Press. She asked Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes to go to the refugee camps to discover some of the refugees' stories, but also to discover how the people 'who want to close their borders' feel. The two writers distilled what they discovered into fictions that are moving, sometimes funny, always thoughtful and thought-provoking, sometimes disturbing: stories that left me wondering whether I'd be as resilient, as funny, as full of hope for a new life, whether I'd even have made it as far as Calais had I been unlucky enough to have had to flee my country. Whether I'd have had the courage to offer my body to a truck-driver for money for my escape; whether I'd have scrambled into a freezing lorry with no guarantee of safe arrival; whether I'd have managed to survive in the Jungle, let alone in my precarious life after it.
Breach is a window into a world so many of us will never have to live in. So the very least we can do is read about how life is / was for these refugees and think about what we might do to help.
October 19, 2016
This novella deals with the stories of immigrants who have swept toward Europe fleeing war and terror, hunger and famine in hopes of finding a safe and productive life. The author with Annie Holmes have taken the stories of people they have interviewed in the migration camp near Calais France.
It follows the journeys and risks these young people take to either walk through Turkey or risk the seas to cross into Greece hoping to find asylum or to enter a country illegally to reunite with friends and/or family. This is a little less than a two hour read, and very informative giving glimpses of the teens who sacrificed both by losses of families in their homeland, losses of friend along the journey. It is an important read with all of the refugee bashing that has occurred in the last several years as the Western world tries to cope with the largest migration since the second world war.
I think of the displaced person camps, more human than the tent cities that now exist, where many of the refugees displaced by Nazis stayed years and years hoping to find a new home after loosing so much.
It follows the journeys and risks these young people take to either walk through Turkey or risk the seas to cross into Greece hoping to find asylum or to enter a country illegally to reunite with friends and/or family. This is a little less than a two hour read, and very informative giving glimpses of the teens who sacrificed both by losses of families in their homeland, losses of friend along the journey. It is an important read with all of the refugee bashing that has occurred in the last several years as the Western world tries to cope with the largest migration since the second world war.
I think of the displaced person camps, more human than the tent cities that now exist, where many of the refugees displaced by Nazis stayed years and years hoping to find a new home after loosing so much.
January 15, 2024
"Our lives are this now. Never really home."
Peirene Press is een nieuwe reeks publicaties begonnen, Peirene Now! Voor die reeks worden schrijvers uitgenodigd fictie te schrijven rond actuele politieke onderwerpen.
Dit werk is het eerste in die reeks en heeft te maken met de Jungle in Calais en transmigranten die de overtocht naar de UK willen maken.
De acht verhalen van dit boek sluiten goed aan bij de reeks publicaties die verschenen als de Refugee Tales.
Het is en blijft een heikel onderwerp, en dat zal niet veranderen zolang de internationale gemeenschap niet alles in het werk stelt om de oorzaken van de massale migraties aan te pakken, in plaats van obsessief bezig te zijn met de slachtoffers van die oorzaken, namelijk de migranten zelf.
Peirene Press is een nieuwe reeks publicaties begonnen, Peirene Now! Voor die reeks worden schrijvers uitgenodigd fictie te schrijven rond actuele politieke onderwerpen.
Dit werk is het eerste in die reeks en heeft te maken met de Jungle in Calais en transmigranten die de overtocht naar de UK willen maken.
De acht verhalen van dit boek sluiten goed aan bij de reeks publicaties die verschenen als de Refugee Tales.
Het is en blijft een heikel onderwerp, en dat zal niet veranderen zolang de internationale gemeenschap niet alles in het werk stelt om de oorzaken van de massale migraties aan te pakken, in plaats van obsessief bezig te zijn met de slachtoffers van die oorzaken, namelijk de migranten zelf.
Read
July 13, 2021C'est l'un des meilleurs recueils de nouvelles que j'ai pu lire. Chaque nouvelle m'a plu et m'a transportée dans le quotidien de celles et ceux qui vivent dans la Jungle de Calais, qui font des kilomètres depuis leur pays d'origine en espérant trouver un meilleur endroit pour vivre. Ce qui m'a particulièrement plu dans ce livre, c'est que l'on suit une multitude de point de vue : migrant.es, passeurs, bénévoles. Le recueil est écrit par deux femmes mais chaque texte a sa propre voix, c'est véritablement comme si l'on lisait plusieurs histoires écrites par plusieurs personnes. Une belle découverte !
March 18, 2017
Fascinating series of stories based on first hand experience of visits to the Calais refugee camps. Can these stories help to bridge the gap betwwen the aspirations of refugees intent on building new lives and the fears of people who feel the necessity to close their borders?
In my opinion it is one of the things that fiction is designed to do, to make us look at both sides of an issue. Some of these stories are told from the point of view of the refugees, others from the perspective of the volunteeers or locals. Each story reads as an authentic portrayal of the situation, food for thought for those of us who didn't go to visit "the jungle" before it was dismantled.
These stories will make readers more aware of what living in these kind of camps is like. Hopefully it will give food for thought about what can be done about the dilemma of how to help the increasing number of the world's refugees.
In my opinion it is one of the things that fiction is designed to do, to make us look at both sides of an issue. Some of these stories are told from the point of view of the refugees, others from the perspective of the volunteeers or locals. Each story reads as an authentic portrayal of the situation, food for thought for those of us who didn't go to visit "the jungle" before it was dismantled.
These stories will make readers more aware of what living in these kind of camps is like. Hopefully it will give food for thought about what can be done about the dilemma of how to help the increasing number of the world's refugees.
July 30, 2019
These are interesting stories, well told, with some common threads and a sense of progression even as different individuals are represented. But as much as the stories, I love the story behind the creation of this volume - the deliberate act of bringing together diverse authors with their own refugee backgrounds (either immediate or recent) to create art from the real stories of the current refugee crisis. Wonderful.
January 25, 2024
As a class reading, many of my classmates questioned the ethical background of this collection. Sending writers to live amongst refugees for a year and to return with an armload of stories? Undeniably questionable. Even more so given the lacklustre explanation provided at the beginning of the novel. I will not dive into this moral dilemma. Instead, I will say I enjoyed the stories, especially how they mirrored each other, bringing a sense of neutrality to a political subject matter.
November 22, 2024
A very quick read, accessible and easy to get through, and most importantly so incredibly relevant - especially to people living in Europe, particularly France and the UK in this case. The short story format allows for empathy and understanding of the characters while not claiming to provide all answers to the reader either; it encourages reflection and a questioning of our own positioning in regards to the “refugee crisis” that we are all inevitably involved in.
July 2, 2022
This book is a read in one sitting kind of book! 8 short stories highlighting the plight and struggle of refugees in Calais and the ripple effect the refugee crisis has on those around the world. This book is made up of fantastic characters, brilliant imagery and speaks truly and heartbreakingly of a serious issue that so many choose to turn a blind eye to.
December 18, 2018
These short stories are all based on the real experiences of refugees in Calais. It provides a very human insight into the daily experiences of people whose lives have been turned into chaos by forces beyond their control. An important, timely and touching book that I wish everyone would read.
November 25, 2024
Parts of this were really enjoyable, other parts dragged quite a bit, and I thought that a lot of the stories were very similar which led to me feeling a bit bored by the end. That said, I thought the short story format worked well for this text and it was really impactful!
November 8, 2017
Realities of refugees were brought to bear in this book of short stories. Refugees are humans too.
February 13, 2021
8143 refugees in the Calais Junge and we need fiction?
August 3, 2016
breach, by Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes, is the first title in the Peirene Now! series, commissioned works of new fiction which engage with the political issues of the day. Set in the Calais refugee camp known as The Jungle, the eight short stories in this collection explore the current refugee crisis in Europe. As Popoola says:
“These are stories of complex characters with dreams and fears, lives that started long before they found themselves in Calais.”
The stories offer insight into the lives of the residents of The Jungle and their relationships with family back home. They look at the feared people smugglers so essential to the refugees’ journey, and at the people in France and the UK who fear the refugees impact on their neatly ordered world.
The collection opens with ‘Counting Down’, a story of waiting, of strangers who become friends yet are never really close. The residents of The Jungle are not one homogenous mass. They come from many countries, bound only by their desperation to reach the UK. At any moment their loyalty can turn.
‘The Terrier’ looks at the refugees through the eyes of a French local who offers to accommodate two young Syrians in exchange for payment from the City Council. Although she sympathises with the youngsters plight there is a lack of trust, on both sides. The refugees are lonely in this house so return to the camp for friendship despite the squalor. The landlady hides her involvement from friends who complain of the refugees proximity and the trouble they bring.
‘Extending a Hand’ tells the story of two young Ethiopian women. They are grateful for the dry clothes handed out by volunteers yet resent that they are a position that requires such help.
“No one makes trousers for your shape. The pair you picked yesterday aren’t the loose-fitting ones volunteers think are suitable […] Why people think they know what’s best for you when they are not you, you don’t understand […] Dignity involves choosing your own outfits, at least”
The women have not told their families back home about conditions in the camp, pretending that all is well and they have jobs. Now demands are being made to send their earnings home, and there is only one way that a women in this camp can earn.
‘Paradise’ offers the camp from the perspective of the volunteers who hand out tents, sleeping bags and donated clothes. They feel good about helping, perhaps not recognising how they are often despised by the refugees. What they do not want though is to become too involved, as happens when Marjorie brings her teenage niece along to help. Marjorie is forced to recognise the hypocracy of her situation and this makes her angry. The refugees also do not wish for too close an involvement. When the volunteers leave to go home and the refugees cannot, this causes pain.
‘Ghosts’ looks at the precarious and often violent world of the people smugglers. It helps explain why there is so little trust in the camp, why people are reluctant to engage and tell their stories.
‘Lineage’ simmers with the resentments felt by those forced to stay calm when their lives have been blown apart. The Jungle is not one big happy family. It is populated by mud and desperation.
‘Oranges in the River’ tells of the constant battle to escape, to find a way to get to the UK by whatever means. However risky the endeavour, this is why The Jungle exists.
‘Expect Me’ is set in the UK. Alghali has made it across the channel and is studying hard to learn English and accounting. He visits Mr Dishman, an elderly local, to improve his ability to converse in this new language that, when his papers come through, he may find work. Mr Dishman talks of Europe being overrun. Alghali believes there is no other way for him to move forward with his life. He is mourning the death of a young friend who died trying to make it to England. He is blamed for a terrorist attack.
Even after reading these stories I pondered why the refugees chose the UK as their destination. It is understandable why they flee but not why other supposedly safe countries are rejected. Perhaps it is the language, the fact that some had learned English before. Perhaps it is because when they ring home they do not admit how bad things are. They make it sound as though they have jobs and safety, thereby encouraging the next set of refugees to follow in their wake.
The authors have produced poignant, challenging stories that facilitate an empathy that is often missing when these issues are discussed. If the human tide is to be slowed then the causes need to be addressed.
Through fiction, tales like these can help to bridge the gap in understanding between cultures. This is an important but also a satisfying read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Peirene Press.
“These are stories of complex characters with dreams and fears, lives that started long before they found themselves in Calais.”
The stories offer insight into the lives of the residents of The Jungle and their relationships with family back home. They look at the feared people smugglers so essential to the refugees’ journey, and at the people in France and the UK who fear the refugees impact on their neatly ordered world.
The collection opens with ‘Counting Down’, a story of waiting, of strangers who become friends yet are never really close. The residents of The Jungle are not one homogenous mass. They come from many countries, bound only by their desperation to reach the UK. At any moment their loyalty can turn.
‘The Terrier’ looks at the refugees through the eyes of a French local who offers to accommodate two young Syrians in exchange for payment from the City Council. Although she sympathises with the youngsters plight there is a lack of trust, on both sides. The refugees are lonely in this house so return to the camp for friendship despite the squalor. The landlady hides her involvement from friends who complain of the refugees proximity and the trouble they bring.
‘Extending a Hand’ tells the story of two young Ethiopian women. They are grateful for the dry clothes handed out by volunteers yet resent that they are a position that requires such help.
“No one makes trousers for your shape. The pair you picked yesterday aren’t the loose-fitting ones volunteers think are suitable […] Why people think they know what’s best for you when they are not you, you don’t understand […] Dignity involves choosing your own outfits, at least”
The women have not told their families back home about conditions in the camp, pretending that all is well and they have jobs. Now demands are being made to send their earnings home, and there is only one way that a women in this camp can earn.
‘Paradise’ offers the camp from the perspective of the volunteers who hand out tents, sleeping bags and donated clothes. They feel good about helping, perhaps not recognising how they are often despised by the refugees. What they do not want though is to become too involved, as happens when Marjorie brings her teenage niece along to help. Marjorie is forced to recognise the hypocracy of her situation and this makes her angry. The refugees also do not wish for too close an involvement. When the volunteers leave to go home and the refugees cannot, this causes pain.
‘Ghosts’ looks at the precarious and often violent world of the people smugglers. It helps explain why there is so little trust in the camp, why people are reluctant to engage and tell their stories.
‘Lineage’ simmers with the resentments felt by those forced to stay calm when their lives have been blown apart. The Jungle is not one big happy family. It is populated by mud and desperation.
‘Oranges in the River’ tells of the constant battle to escape, to find a way to get to the UK by whatever means. However risky the endeavour, this is why The Jungle exists.
‘Expect Me’ is set in the UK. Alghali has made it across the channel and is studying hard to learn English and accounting. He visits Mr Dishman, an elderly local, to improve his ability to converse in this new language that, when his papers come through, he may find work. Mr Dishman talks of Europe being overrun. Alghali believes there is no other way for him to move forward with his life. He is mourning the death of a young friend who died trying to make it to England. He is blamed for a terrorist attack.
Even after reading these stories I pondered why the refugees chose the UK as their destination. It is understandable why they flee but not why other supposedly safe countries are rejected. Perhaps it is the language, the fact that some had learned English before. Perhaps it is because when they ring home they do not admit how bad things are. They make it sound as though they have jobs and safety, thereby encouraging the next set of refugees to follow in their wake.
The authors have produced poignant, challenging stories that facilitate an empathy that is often missing when these issues are discussed. If the human tide is to be slowed then the causes need to be addressed.
Through fiction, tales like these can help to bridge the gap in understanding between cultures. This is an important but also a satisfying read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Peirene Press.
April 17, 2017
Review posted: https://chronicbibliophilia.wordpress...
Peirene Press is a mission-driven boutique press. According to its website, “Peirene specializes in contemporary European novellas and short novels in English translation. All our books are best-sellers and/or award-winners in their own countries. We only publish books of less than 200 pages that can be read in the same time it takes to watch a DVD.” One of Peirene’s newest endeavors is a series they are calling “Peirene Now!”, which “will be made up of commissioned works of new fiction, which engage with the political issues of the day.” First on the docket – “breach”.
Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes, both Africa-born writers currently based in the UK, were commissioned to immerse themselves in the refugee camp in Calais, France and to create short stories which explore and illuminate this international crisis through fiction. “breach”, the resulting volume, is eye-opening and beautifully human. The refugee camp in Calais, much to my ashamed ignorance, is a microcosm of the global crises; this camp, abutting the English Channel on the northern coast of France, contains neighborhoods or sectors with refugees from various conflict zones, people who have journeyed for months or even years from places like the Sudan and Syria, all the way across Europe. Popoola and Holmes use the perfect medium – the short story – to capture this phenomenon and to expose, if only a fraction, the fears, trials, and oppressions of thousands of vulnerable people living in limbo.
“‘When you claim asylum you sum it all up.’ He laughs and his eyes become so small they fade into his unshaven face until you only see two lines with a little hair. I can make jokes at any time but even I don’t understand why he laughs. ‘How do you sum up genocide?'”
The characters in these stories are surviving extraordinary hardship, living in tenuous circumstances and forming a community that is constantly in flux and under threat. They must learn to navigate not just the dangers of camp life, but also the varied presence of European interlopers – people on the outskirts of camp, some there to exploit (such as the truckers who underwrite a prostitution ring) and others to help, though not without judgement and expectations.
“You are tired of the visitors who all need acknowledgement, who need you to engage so they can feel that they are doing the right thing. It is not that you don’t appreciate their help. What they do keeps you alive. But the rules of it are annoying. You have, in fact, more important things to do.”
“Your blood is starting to boil. Her five-minute concern is not going to help you keep warm at night, or leave this hellhole altogether. You will still be queuing in one line while she redoes her nappy curls in a salon at the end of next week.”
“Why people think they know what’s best for you when they are not you, you don’t understand. Why you wouldn’t know how you want to dress at your age is beyond you. …You had asked for leggings, tighter jeans, something that would make you feel like you were still twenty-four and not just a refugee squatting in a camp that the locals want gone.”
Popoola and Holmes do a wonderful job of making refugees and volunteers human, flawed, complicated. Volunteers, while well-intentioned, are often patronizing, condescending, and certainly not perfectly altruistic. Refugees, while grateful for the aid they receive, are also adults with agency, desires, and their own challenges.
“breach” is an important book, both for its timeliness and global commentary, but also for its utter beauty and deep humanity. Popoola and Holmes masterfully educate, engage, and entertain.
Peirene Press is a mission-driven boutique press. According to its website, “Peirene specializes in contemporary European novellas and short novels in English translation. All our books are best-sellers and/or award-winners in their own countries. We only publish books of less than 200 pages that can be read in the same time it takes to watch a DVD.” One of Peirene’s newest endeavors is a series they are calling “Peirene Now!”, which “will be made up of commissioned works of new fiction, which engage with the political issues of the day.” First on the docket – “breach”.
Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes, both Africa-born writers currently based in the UK, were commissioned to immerse themselves in the refugee camp in Calais, France and to create short stories which explore and illuminate this international crisis through fiction. “breach”, the resulting volume, is eye-opening and beautifully human. The refugee camp in Calais, much to my ashamed ignorance, is a microcosm of the global crises; this camp, abutting the English Channel on the northern coast of France, contains neighborhoods or sectors with refugees from various conflict zones, people who have journeyed for months or even years from places like the Sudan and Syria, all the way across Europe. Popoola and Holmes use the perfect medium – the short story – to capture this phenomenon and to expose, if only a fraction, the fears, trials, and oppressions of thousands of vulnerable people living in limbo.
“‘When you claim asylum you sum it all up.’ He laughs and his eyes become so small they fade into his unshaven face until you only see two lines with a little hair. I can make jokes at any time but even I don’t understand why he laughs. ‘How do you sum up genocide?'”
The characters in these stories are surviving extraordinary hardship, living in tenuous circumstances and forming a community that is constantly in flux and under threat. They must learn to navigate not just the dangers of camp life, but also the varied presence of European interlopers – people on the outskirts of camp, some there to exploit (such as the truckers who underwrite a prostitution ring) and others to help, though not without judgement and expectations.
“You are tired of the visitors who all need acknowledgement, who need you to engage so they can feel that they are doing the right thing. It is not that you don’t appreciate their help. What they do keeps you alive. But the rules of it are annoying. You have, in fact, more important things to do.”
“Your blood is starting to boil. Her five-minute concern is not going to help you keep warm at night, or leave this hellhole altogether. You will still be queuing in one line while she redoes her nappy curls in a salon at the end of next week.”
“Why people think they know what’s best for you when they are not you, you don’t understand. Why you wouldn’t know how you want to dress at your age is beyond you. …You had asked for leggings, tighter jeans, something that would make you feel like you were still twenty-four and not just a refugee squatting in a camp that the locals want gone.”
Popoola and Holmes do a wonderful job of making refugees and volunteers human, flawed, complicated. Volunteers, while well-intentioned, are often patronizing, condescending, and certainly not perfectly altruistic. Refugees, while grateful for the aid they receive, are also adults with agency, desires, and their own challenges.
“breach” is an important book, both for its timeliness and global commentary, but also for its utter beauty and deep humanity. Popoola and Holmes masterfully educate, engage, and entertain.
Read
March 16, 2025Feels wrong to rate this given the topic at hand. I would recommend reading if you are interested in refugee stories, especially in Europe, but approach with caution because I’ve heard some conversation surrounding the questionable authorship of some of these stories (take with a million grains of salt, I heard this from the PhD Islamic literature student who recommended this to me)
April 14, 2017
My review written for The Migrationist: https://themigrationist.net/2016/11/0...
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