A review by bgg616
This Hostel Life by Melatu Uche Okorie
4.0
This slim volume contains an informative introduction, three stories and a final article that provides information on the legal situation of migrants to Ireland. Okorie is a Nigerian migrant to Ireland along with her daughter. Asylum seekers who arrive in Ireland may be categorized as refugees or a person meriting subsidiary protection. Refugees are persons whose fear for safety and their lives is something they face everywhere in their country of origin. There is a distinction made for persons who face persecution in the specific area where they reside in their country of origin. This may be domestic abuse, religious persecution, torture and more that threatens their lives and survival. It is, however, not possible for many to simply move to another part of their country and live safely. Persons who are admitted to Ireland as needing subsidiary protection are placed in a direct provision group. They are not permitted to work. They are required to live in special housing, called hostels.
In some hostels, residents may have cooking facilities, but in most they are served in a cafeteria. In the first story "This Hostel Life", we meet residents of the hostel, the majority of whom are migrants from Nigeria, and other African countries. The story is written in the language these people, mostly women, have created to communicate across their different languages. It is a kind of creole of Nigerian pidgin English, and some American slang. The women gossip about everything in their contained environment. The employees of the hostel exhibit the power they hold over residents, denying them provisions (toilet paper, soap etc.) when a resident complains. Still there are residents who push back, despite the risks. Many face years in these residents, existing in a stateless limbo.
The second story "Under the Awning" focuses on the question of belonging. In 2004 with the Citizenship Referendum, the right of citizenship was withdrawn from children born in Ireland of parents who were not Irish citizens. the title reflects the lengths to which the character in the story goes to blend in. In Nigeria, when it rains, people don't flee the wet. In Ireland, waiting for a bus, the character goes to wait under a shop awning with other waiting passengers, because that is what you do in Ireland. This is a story within a story. A Nigerian woman is called to read aloud her story in a writing class. At the end of her reading, her fellow students' comments reveal their inability to comprehend this simple story. It was particularly interesting to me as a linguist who has studied various types of discourse styles, and how a specific form of storytelling is rewarded in Eurocentric
(including American) traditions, and others are seen as deficient.
The third and final story "The Egg Broke" is set in Nigeria. In this village, despite laws against this practice, twins are seen as not deserving the right to survive. Traditionally they are abandoned in the woods. The young woman in the story has a young daughter, but she and her husband yearn for a son. She gives birth to twin boys.
This is a collection that provides readers insights into the lives of migrants in Ireland. The stories are given context by the Introduction and the final essay. The author Melatu Uche Okorie is currently working on her PhD at Trinity College Dublin. She has a MPhil in Creative writing from Trinity. She moved to Ireland in 2006, and began writing while in direct provision status for eight and a half years. I look forward to reading more from this talented writer and important voice in Irish writing.
In some hostels, residents may have cooking facilities, but in most they are served in a cafeteria. In the first story "This Hostel Life", we meet residents of the hostel, the majority of whom are migrants from Nigeria, and other African countries. The story is written in the language these people, mostly women, have created to communicate across their different languages. It is a kind of creole of Nigerian pidgin English, and some American slang. The women gossip about everything in their contained environment. The employees of the hostel exhibit the power they hold over residents, denying them provisions (toilet paper, soap etc.) when a resident complains. Still there are residents who push back, despite the risks. Many face years in these residents, existing in a stateless limbo.
The second story "Under the Awning" focuses on the question of belonging. In 2004 with the Citizenship Referendum, the right of citizenship was withdrawn from children born in Ireland of parents who were not Irish citizens. the title reflects the lengths to which the character in the story goes to blend in. In Nigeria, when it rains, people don't flee the wet. In Ireland, waiting for a bus, the character goes to wait under a shop awning with other waiting passengers, because that is what you do in Ireland. This is a story within a story. A Nigerian woman is called to read aloud her story in a writing class. At the end of her reading, her fellow students' comments reveal their inability to comprehend this simple story. It was particularly interesting to me as a linguist who has studied various types of discourse styles, and how a specific form of storytelling is rewarded in Eurocentric
(including American) traditions, and others are seen as deficient.
The third and final story "The Egg Broke" is set in Nigeria. In this village, despite laws against this practice, twins are seen as not deserving the right to survive. Traditionally they are abandoned in the woods. The young woman in the story has a young daughter, but she and her husband yearn for a son. She gives birth to twin boys.
This is a collection that provides readers insights into the lives of migrants in Ireland. The stories are given context by the Introduction and the final essay. The author Melatu Uche Okorie is currently working on her PhD at Trinity College Dublin. She has a MPhil in Creative writing from Trinity. She moved to Ireland in 2006, and began writing while in direct provision status for eight and a half years. I look forward to reading more from this talented writer and important voice in Irish writing.