No Friend But the Mountains – Behrouz Boochani (translated by Omid Tofighian)
In 2013, Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani was illegally detained on Manus Island. Five years (and counting) on he has released a personal account of the experience. The entire biography was written by his verbal accounts being recorded and transported by mobile, then translated by Tofighian.
Boochani’s vivid portrait of his incarceration was nominated for, and has won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, and the richest Australian Literary prize, the Victorian Prize for Literature. He remained absent from the award ceremonies, still being incarcerated on Manus Island…
“In the absence of images, turn to this book to fathom what we have done, what we continue to do. It is, put simply, the most extraordinary and important book I have ever read.”