About Displaced Storytellers from the Places They Carry: Voices from Iraq and Syria
Author Stephanie Saldaña Shares Stories of War and Survival
Join author Stephanie Saldaña as she presents stories from her latest book, featuring the lives of women and men who fled the wars in Iraq and Syria. Her work serves as a powerful reminder that refugees are storytellers, carrying with them memories of their lost homes. A book sale and signing will follow the event.
Location:
UNO College of Public Affairs and Community Service, Room 132D
6320 Maverick Plaza, Omaha, NE 68182
Schedule:
- Book Talk: 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
- Book Sale/Signing: 12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
This is a hybrid event, and RSVP is required.
Saldaña’s talk, part of the Landscapes of Belonging series, explores the stories of refugees through unexpected symbols—a dress, a song, eggplant seeds, or even the memory of a pharmacy. These stories, from Mosul to Mount Sinjar to Aleppo, reflect the cultural and religious diversity of a region deeply affected by conflict. Her work honors the hidden historians of war, those who keep their worlds alive through storytelling.
Her new book, What We Remember Will Be Saved, is a poignant journey into the heart of the modern refugee crisis. It reminds us that refugees are more than survivors; they are custodians of disappearing languages, cultures, and histories, with tales distilled into objects like fabric or seeds. What we choose to remember and salvage tells the story of who we are.
Stephanie Saldaña is a journalist and scholar of religion from San Antonio, Texas, with two decades of experience living in the Middle East. She studied at Harvard Divinity School and is the author of A Country Between and The Bread of Angels, praised by Geraldine Brooks as “a remarkable, wise, and lovely book.” Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, America Magazine, and Plough. She has also been featured on National Public Radio. Saldaña and her family currently split their time between Bethlehem and France.
This event is part of the Landscapes of Belonging: Refugee Experiences in Nebraska and Beyond series, sponsored by the Goldstein Family Community Chair in Human Rights. The series seeks to deepen understanding of refugee experiences through research, teaching, and community engagement, focusing on Nebraska and global trends.
For more information: goldsteincenter@unomaha.edu / 402-554-4067
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