Welbeck to publish ‘poignant’ Conversations from Calais

Welbeck Publishing Group is to publish a new book documenting conversations between volunteers and refugees in Calais.

Jo Lal, publisher of Welbeck Balance, acquired world rights to Conversations from Calais: Sharing Refugee Stories from Emma Bal of The Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV, & Film Agency. 

Conversations from Calais is a global art movement that captured moments between volunteers and refugees on posters created by designer Mathilda Della Torre in 2018. Pasted on walls in 60 cities around the world, the posters aimed to amplify marginalised voices and bear witness to those who are often ignored.  

The book, Conversations from Calais: Sharing Refugee Stories, brings Della Torre’s archive of posters to life alongside essay contributions from a selection of poets, campaigners, comedians, artists and writers. These include Osman Yousefzada, Gulwali Passarlay, Nish Kumar, Joudie Kalla, Waad Al-Kateab, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, Ai Weiwei and Inua Ellams. 

The book will be published to coincide with Refugee Week, from 19th to 25th June, and World Refugee Day on 20th June. For every copy sold, a donation will be made to the charity Freedom from Torture.  

Della Torre said: “The idea for this book came about during the first 2020 lockdown, when I had too much time to think and had run out of space on the walls of my street to put up any more posters. I started to think about creating an archive that would live beyond walls and social media. I wanted these conversations to be let into our homes, our classrooms and our libraries. This book now feels more important than ever, it’s an honour to publish these conversations alongside the words of people who have used their voices to defend refugee rights.”  

Lal commented: “I first saw one of Mathilda’s posters at a bus stop; it stopped me in my tracks, it was so simple, so raw and so human I couldn’t get it out of my head. Forward a few years and the situation only seems to have got worse. I hope that Conversations from Calais will touch hearts, raise awareness and inspire action.”  

Bal added: “Conversations from Calais captures the intimate, sad, funny, angry, familiar and unfamiliar moments between volunteers and migrants, in a way that doesn’t fuel stereotypes of refugees as villains, heroic figures or hopeless victims. I am proud to represent this important work led by Mathilda Della Torre, and I can’t wait to see it published to inspire real change.”