Crater Publishers is proud and thrilled to announce the publication of Nightingales. True Stories of Escape, Hope, and Resilience. We join forces with author and educator Mimi Melkonian to present a poignant and powerful message of resilience, survival, and adaptation.
In this beautifully written volume, Mimi Melkonian takes an honest and humane look at the Syrian migrant crisis. In 2016, Mimi took upon herself to tell the story of a set of forced-migrants, of all plights, who had to leave Syria due to the ongoing violence. Mimi decided to undertake this project after years of meeting Syrians in diaspora in places such as Lebanon, Germany, Canada, and the U.S.
Mimi Melkonian interviewed dozens of Syrian forced-migrants and translated those interviews from Arabic, Armenian, and Turkish, to English. Mimi decided to select and publish in a single volume some of the most illuminating and impactful personal stories. Her goal was to give a public voice to these forced-migrants and to help communicate their essential contributions to the countries in which they now reside. Their resilience has enabled them to flourish in their adopted countries.
Her book profiles sixteen inspiring Syrian migrants who have successfully settled all around the globe: one in Turkey and the other fifteen across the Western world (five in Germany, four in the United States, two in the Netherlands, one in Canada, one in Italy, one in Portugal, and one in Sweden).
Mimi Melkonian documents the inner-strength and moral force of Sarah Mardini or Muhannad Qaiconie, who after harrowing journeys through Eastern Europe finally managed to settle in Germany, and who since then have set for themselves as a mission to help fellow refugees.
Mimi Melkonian reflects on the endless and inspiring creativity of acclaimed composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh, who migrated to the United States; or of now-renown artist Tammam Azzam, who after escaping to Dubai finally resettled in Germany.
She also gives the reader an understanding of the ingenuity and authenticity of Dalya Zeno or Alaa al-Hariri, young women who successfully adapted to Western lifestyle while staying true to themselves and their Middle-Eastern roots.
We invite you to attend Mimi Melkonian’s presentation of her Nightingales at The Greenwich Historial Society, Monday, March 4th, 2019, at 6:00 p.m.