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Migration made the world! All major religions make a virtue of welcoming the stranger. Whoever we are, we are all, originally, from somewhere else. Cells migrate in our bodies to protect the organism and create new life and migration built human civilisation. It is a natural process – especially for anyone facing violence in their own country. We must all try to help compassion and welcome win out over prejudice and resentment against immigration. That's why I wrote my book “The Mara Crossing”, and why I continue to support and welcome all migrants.

Ruth Padel

Ruth Padel is a British poet, the author of Learning to Make an Oud in Nazareth (on harmony and conflict in the Middle East), the bestselling Darwin – A Life in Poems (a verse biography of her great-great-grandfather, Charles Darwin) and Emerald (a lyrical exploration of the search for value in mourning). She is Professor of Poetry at King’s College London, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her poetry-and-prose study of migration, The Mara Crossing, is ‘A sweeping and unconventional book about migration which calls for compassion (Economist), ‘A magnificent book of raw interfaces and unnerving encounters’ (Guardian), and ‘An immensely moving, beautifully written book exploring the beauty, pain and suffering of migration’ (Poetry London). In summer 2020, it will come out as a paperback entitled We Are All from Somewhere Else. Ruth has recently been working with Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj on Dark Water Burning World, an artwork on Syrian refugees to the islands of Lesbos and Bute. See www.ruthpadel.com