In this very special episode Love to Read Local Radio with Fremantle Press, Yuot A. Alaak shares his refugee experience and talks about the importance of sharing real and nuanced African stories with Rebecca Higgie

Show Notes

In this touching episode of Love to Read Local radio, debut author Yuot A. Alaak (Father of the Lost Boys) talks about his refugee experience, and how his memoir tells the story of his family, especially of his inspiring father who led 20,000 lost boys towards a brighter future during the Second Sudanese Civil War.

He also mentions the power of storytelling, and its importance in African society. For him, stories were a way of distracting himself from the hardships of reality, and to keep hope alive. He says that it’s important that real and nuanced stories about Africa are being shared that depicts its beauty and the hospitality of its people, rather than the imagined, ‘dark continent’ that it’s often portrayed as.

Music: ‘Letter to a Daughter of St George’, from the Meat Lunch EP: Songs from Floaters. Written by Alan Fyfe. Performed by Trevor Bentley (guitar and vocals – @trevormb) and Chris Parkinson (harmonica). Produced by Blake Carnaby of Nuglife studios with impresario work by Benjamin P. Newton.

Producer: Claire Miller

Mastered and edited by: Aidan d’Adhemar

Sponsor: This show was made possible with a grant from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund

Show Notes

Other Episodes

Episode 0

Bron Bateman presents: Nadia Rhook on poetry, history, motherhood and privilege

Episode 0

How to Avoid a Happy Life podcast – episode 6: Author Julia Lawrinson on the opposite of boredom

Episode 0

Maria Papas presents: Gerard McCann – one of the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award shortlisters