Beyond Borders present a set of talks
Beyond Borders Totnes & District (BBT&D) are a group dedicated to supporting people who are disadvantaged by circumstances they can have no power over. They offer befriending and support to often desperate people, who have fled from tyranny, war and oppression within their own countries. as well as working close to home with Totnes Quakers and Food in the Community.
Next month they will be presenting two talks from Tawseef Khan. They will also be hosting a tea party in St John’s Church to everyone ever involved in BBT&D, tangentially, long ago, recently or with new interest. A chance to get to know each other and celebrate efforts, collaboration and kindness.
Tawseef Khan was born in Manchester in 1986. He is a qualified solicitor specialising in Immigration and Asylum Law as well as a human rights activist with over ten years of experience on queer, refugee and Muslim issues. He is a graduate of the creative writing programme at the University of East Anglia, where he received the Seth Donaldson Memorial Bursary. In 2016, he obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Liverpool, where his thesis explored the experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual asylum-seekers under the British asylum system. He was a recipient of a Northern Writers Award in 2017 and a grant from Arts Council England to develop a novel-in-stories about life as an immigration solicitor. His writing has featured in the New York Times, and his debut non-fiction book Muslim, Actually was published by Atlantic in 2021. His debut novel Determination, was published by Footnote in 2024.
The title of the first event is ‘Determination‘ – a discussion & book reading which will be at 7pm on the 23rd October in St. Mary’s church. The novel ‘Determination’ is about an immigration solicitor engaged with her asylum seekers’ applications and lives in UK, while coping with cross-generational family and life-decision challenges. The signed book will be available to buy (thanks to East Gate Bookshop).
This is a BBT&D fundraiser (by donations on the evening) for Red Cross Refugee Family Reunion Project.
The following evening is the Unity in Diversity programme with the title: Muslim, Actually St Mary’s Church on Thursday 24th October from 6pm. Tawseef Khan will be in dialogue and practice about his first book Muslim, Actually: How Islam is Misunderstood and Why It Matters.
Further information can be found by contacting info@beyondborderstotnes.org.uk