On Friday 30 August, the School was honoured to host Dr Omid Tofighian, lecturer, researcher, community advocate and translator of Behrouz Boochani’s anti-genre No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison. The memoir (actually described as anti-genre) was written from Manus Prison and smuggled out using WhatsApp. It has won nearly every major literary award in Australia including the Victorian Prize for Literature. Dr Tofighian both translated the book and is now using it as a critical component in developing Manus Prison Theory.
Particularly for the Year 11 students who studied this instant classic, being able to ask an internationally recognised academic questions was authentic and meaningful. As Dr Tofighian noted, in a special, “history making” moment, he was able to contact Mr Boochani from detention in Port Moresby, allowing the opportunity to speak directly with students. Hearing Dr Tofighian help with translating whilst having the phone reception intermittently cut out reinforced the harsh realities of the creation of this seminal work of prison writing.
Students asked questions regarding the creation of No Friend but the Mountains, but more importantly focused on Australia’s refugee policies and the personal toll in creating such a meaningful piece of work:
“What is your response to the argument that, as a sovereign nation, Australia can treat non-citizens, such as refugees, in any way we choose?”
“Can we avoid a Kyriarchy or is it a natural consequence of government?”
“Are there solutions to what has been called ‘the refugee crisis’?"
The day after his visit, Dr. Tofighian departed for Melbourne before heading to Egypt as part of his work lecturing in Philosophy. He will be attending events over the next several months in Italy, Portugal and Indonesia as the book is translated and released internationally. We with him continued success in raising awareness of this critical dissection of Australia’s treatment of refugees. We encourage parents to speak with their children about this visit. More information can be found on the official site.
Students made the following comments:
“We actually got a chance to connect with the author and were able to hear his voice and further understand his innocence.” - Mitchell Bennett
“To witness the difficulties first hand that they had with communicating to each other over the phone, gave us all an idea of how difficult the book was to write.” - Arjun Charawanamuttu
“To talk to Behrouz over the phone was unbelievable, he was sharing his own knowledge and experience of the refugees, and hearing his voice alone shows how resilient he is.” - Lachie Neville
“I think it is very important for the youth of society in Australia to understand the poor treatment of such refugees, so the ideology and stereotypes of refugees begins to rightfully change.” - Robbie Nunez
“It really made me feel a mixture of emotions such as sadness that a guy like that is stuck in a prison for only wanting a better life, but I also felt a great since of strength in Behrouz…. He doesn’t want our generation to make the same mistakes as this past generation has.” - Caleb Webster
“He made me realise how society needs to stop ignoring refugees who are incarcerated in illegal camps.” - Tom Maddren
Brad Horsburgh | English Teacher
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