Upcoming events.
Child Migrant Voices with Linh Vu and Eithne Nightingale
Showing of the film Passing Tides of Linh Vu's journey from Vietnam in Hackney in 1970s and interview between Linh and Eithne Nightingale (researcher, filmmaker and author)
Linh Vu will interview Eithne Nightingale about her research, related films and book - Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain - Oral Histories 1930s to the Present Day published by Bloomsbury February 2024. Eithne will interview Linh about her experience of coming to Hackney from Vietnam and of her participation in Eithne's research, book and film. Followed by questions from and discussion with the audience, book purchase and signing.
Part of Hackney History Festival:
Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain: Screening and discussion
Join us for a reading and discussion of Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain; Oral Histories 1930s to the Modern Day, featuring author Eithne Nightingale and Maurice Nwokeji, one of the book’s contributors. Maurice Nwokeji will also play reggae music inspired by his experiences of the Biafran war.
We’ll also screen two short films about young people’s experiences of migration: “Seeking Sanctuary on a Scottish Island” by Child Migrant Voices, and “Across the English Channel”, created by a Cambridgeshire care leaver.
There will be an opportunity to buy copies of the book and have them signed.
Free and all welcome. Book your free ticket or just come along!
With the support of the Institute of Continuing Education Creative Writing and English Literature courses: https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/courses/courses-subject/creative-writing-literature-and-film-studies
This event will take place on the third floor of Cambridge Central Library, which is wheelchair accessible. There are baby change facilities and accessible toilets on site. For full details of our facilities, please visit our website: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/directory/listings/Cambridge-Central-Library
Child Migrant Voices - from Hackney and beyond
Margaret Andrews, author who arrived from Carriacou, aged eight, interviews Eithne Nightingale, about her new book Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain: Oral Histories 1930s -Present Day, Richard Lue, who followed his mother to London from Jamaica; Maurice Nwokeji who survived the Biafran war, Linh Vu who fled Vietnam by boat and Fatim Nikoulare who escaped Guinea to avoid FGM.
Patrick Vernon OBE, activist will talk about lessons learnt from the Home Office Windrush scandal and Emily Graham, Safe Passage about Routes to Safety, chaired by Wendy Pettifer, solicitor and migrant rights campaigner.
Maurice Nwokeji will give a reggae performance inspired by the Biafran war before the signing and sale of books and screening of short films of child migrants who have arrived in Hackney from Cyprus, El Salvador, Nigeria and Vietnam.
Child Migrant Voices from East London - films, readings and discussion
Join Eithne Nightingale, East End author and film maker, to celebrate the publication of her new book Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain: Oral Histories 1930s - Present Day.
Eithne will be joined, for readings and discussion, by Jalal Rajonuddin, originally from Bangladesh, who played a key role in fighting the fascists in the Battle of Brick Lane; Jama Omar, community worker, who will share experiences of local young Somalis featured in the book; and Andrew Wilson, friend of the late Duncan Ross, previous vicar of St Paul’s Bow Common, who migrated from Calcutta in the 1950s but, although an East Ender, never felt completely at home.
There will also be a film screening, made with Mitchell Harris, as part of the award-winning series Child Migrant Stories.
Followed by book sales and signing.
Duncan and his sister and friends on a cycle trip in Calcutta
Child Migrant Voices in East London
Do join us at Idea Bow Store, 1 Gladstone Pl, Bow, London E3 5GT this Saturday at 2pm to discuss the experiences of girl migrants in the book Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain; Oral Histories 1930s to the Modern Day. Watch a powerful short film about a young girl, Linh Vu escaping Vietnam by boat, using Liinh’s art work. The film will serve as the stimulus for discussion with chair, Rayah Feldman, author Eithne Nightingale and Linh Vu about how the lived experiences of migration of girls from different cultural backgrounds differ from those of boys in education, marriage, work and feelings about having left the country of their birth.
Suitable for all including with children. Just turn up and no need to book.
Kindertransport and Beyond
85 years after the Kindertransport, children continue to flee their homes in search of safety. This special panel brings together expertise and personal experience spanning nine decades.
Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines was one of 669 children rescued by Nicholas Winton from Czechoslovakia in 1939. In The Kindertransport: What Really Happened Dr Andrea Hammel explores some of the uncomfortable truths behind the complex visa waiver scheme that brought some 10,000 children and young people to the UK. And in Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain Dr Eithne Nightingale curates oral histories from 1930 to the present day. They join educator Trudy Gold.
Engaging with Child Migrants
On Friday 1st March at 7pm in the Barn, Causeway, Horsham RH12 1HE, there will be an opportunity to hear from Eithne Nightingale with excerpts from her newly published book “Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain — oral histories from the 1930s to the present day”.
Listen to the experiences of child migrants themselves, together with speakers from Horsham Refugee Support Group and others involved in supporting refugees.
The evening will be compered by BBC Radio 4’s Chris Aldridge and at the end there will be a chance to chat to the speakers over refreshments and buy a copy of the book.
Entry is free with a retiring collection in aid of “St Mary’s English for Asylum Seekers”. Spaces will be limited so please do book a place in advance:
Child Migrant Voices from Hackney: panel discussion with Eithne Nightingale
Join us as we celebrate Eithne Nightingale's powerful new book and hear readings from a panel of contributors with lived experiences of child migration in Hackney: Rabbi Gluck OBE, Maurice Nwokeji, Linh Vu and Fatim Nikoulare.
Almost half the people displaced worldwide are under 18, yet their voices are rarely heard. This book throws a spotlight on children arriving in Britain from Hitler’s Europe in the 1930s to those escaping war in Ukraine in 2022. It follows the journeys of war- traumatised children from Mogadishu to Mile End and from Syria to a Scottish isle. Some followed their parents to the ‘motherland’ from the former British Empire. Others came independently to escape forced marriage or military conscription.
These powerful testimonies shed light on children’s motivations, trials and achievements, including in adult life, providing critical insight into how the British – both individually and collectively – have welcomed or shunned child migrants. Importantly, Eithne Nightingale links these stories with contemporary issues such as the Windrush Scandal and Britain’s Illegal Migration Act 2023.
We're thrilled to be welcoming four of the book's contributors to tell us their stories.
Linh Vu escaped Vietnam by boat with her father and arrived in UK in 1979, aged seven, leaving her mother and siblings in Saigon. The family reunited in Hackney five years later. Linh studied architecture, ran a Vietnamese restaurant and is helping on an architectural project on the south coast with her husband.
Maurice Nwokeji survived bombs and hunger in the war in Biafra before joining his parents in Hackney, aged nine, in 1970. He is now a reggae musician and will perform music inspired by his childhood experiences of war.
Fatim Nikoulare arrived on her own in Hackney from Guinea in 2006 at the age of 16 speaking no English. After many challenges accessing housing, education and a right to stay she is now a British citizen and works as a theatre nurse on the south coast. .
Rabbi Gluck OBE is the son of Necha Gluck (nee DUX) who came to the UK, aged 10, on the Kindertransport in 1938. He is a prominent and leading British and international rabbi and human rights advocate. He received his OBE from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the second at an investiture in 2013, for promoting interfaith understanding.
Child Migrant Voices publication
Bloomsbury publishes first edition of Child Migrant Voices in Modern Britain - Oral Histories 1930s to the Present Day. Download the flyer below for more information and to discover a special code which grants 20% off from Bloomsbury or order through your local bookshop.
Child Migrant Stories new website launch
Ahead of the launch of Eithne Nightingale’s new book, Child Migrant Voices, we’ve redesigned Child Migrant Stories’ website.
At launch you can expect the following:
A brand new home page featuring a newly designed overview of Child Migrant Stories.
An interactive area to explore the new book.
A new ‘Films’ page featuring all our previous work in a more accessible, fluid design.
A revamped ‘Events’ area which allows you to integrate upcoming events directly into your virtual calendar.
In the coming weeks we’ll be adding:
Stories
Learning Resources
