Refugee Life Writing in Australia: Testimonios by Iranians

Abstract

This paper examines a growing trend of contemporary Australian writing, life narrations by refugees, along the genre of testimonio. It uses the example of Iranian writings, as Iranians compose the majority of asylum-seekers in Australia today. It questions the voice refugee writers are given by the Australian writers who help them to write or publish their life stories and ask how their writings redefine the genre of testimonio, used to tell the history of contemporary traumatic migrations to Australia.