AROUND 40 people attended the launch of a book celebrating the stories of migrant women in Langtree Mall on Sunday.
Stories from the Inside is the first publication by Ascolta Women, a collective of multi-generational Italian-Australian and Italian-affiliated women, and includes four stories from local writers.
The book was born from a creative writing workshop organised by Teresa Capetola, a professor at Deakin University, and collects the unique perspectives of women during lockdown and throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
Ascolta, which means ‘listen’ in Italian, follows in a tradition of documenting migrant experiences in Australia spearheaded by Lella Cariddi, who was present at the event and introduced two anthologies she compiled.
Ms Cariddi, an author and community development worker, has spent years documenting migrant experiences in Australia and said writing such stories down addresses “the absence of stories of everyday people that are missing from the annals of Australian history”.
Stories of migrant experiences “contribute to a better understanding of who we are as Australians”, she said.
Stories from the Inside includes creative non-fiction, photographs, multimedia artwork and poetry created in response to the prompt “from the inside”. It can be purchased from Collins Booksellers in Langtree Mall.
