Reaching Mithymna: Among the Volunteers and Refugees on Lesvos

In the fall of 2015, Steven Heighton traveled to the frontlines of the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece and enlisted as a volunteer. He arrived on the isle of Lesvos with a duffel bag and a dubious grasp of Greek and worked on the landing beaches and in OXY-a jerrybuilt, ad hoc transit camp providing simple meals, dry clothes, and a brief rest to refugees after their crossing from Turkey. He was thrown into emergency roles for which he was woefully unqualified. Reaching Mithymna is a firsthand account of the crisis and an engaged exploration of the borders that divide us and the ties that bind.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 10 December 2020
Publisher: Biblioasis

FINALIST FOR THE 2020 HILARY WESTON WRITERS TRUST PRIZE FOR NONFICTION




A New York Times
New & Noteworthy Book




A CBC Best Nonfiction Book of 2020




A Globe and Mail
Top 100 Book for 2020




“Combining his poetic sensibilities and storytelling skills with a documentarians eye, [Heighton] has created a wrenching narrative.”




In the fall of 2015, Steven Heighton made an overnight decision to travel to the frontlines of the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece and enlist as a volunteer. He arrived on the isle of Lesvos with a duffel bag and a dubious grasp of Greek, his mother's native tongue, and worked on the landing beaches and in OXY-—a jerrybuilt, ad hoc transit camp providing simple meals, dry clothes, and a brief rest to refugees after their crossing from Turkey. In a town deserted by the tourists that had been its lifeblood, Heighton-—alongside the exhausted locals and under-equipped international aid workers—-found himself thrown into emergency roles for which he was woefully unqualified.


From the brief reprieves of volunteer-refugee soccer matches to the riots of Camp Moria, Reaching Mithymna is a firsthand account of the crisis and an engaged exploration of the borders that divide us and the ties that bind.

Weight: 322g
Dimension: 129 x 202 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781771963763