‘The Other Side of Hope is a UK based publication, mostly written and entirely edited by people who have migrated, either forced migration or for other reasons. It  ‘exist(s) to serve and celebrate the refugee and immigrant communities worldwide’ by shining a light on stories often untold.

One print and one on-line issue (each with different content) are produced each year with plans afoot to add a multilingual edition from 2024.

The above is the Autumn 2022 print edition which has sections for fiction, poetry and non-fiction, a book review and is illustrated by a featured artist . It is  A5 format and feels more like a 100 page book than a traditional magazine.

To give an idea of the content, there is a work of fiction looking at women’s rights in Afghanistan through a unique lens (I won’t say more or it will spoil the story!); poems illustrating the difficulties of making a ‘new’ home, looking at the migration experience and non-fiction works echoing this, pointing out small details, small yet loaded with significance.

The works are emotional, sometimes angry, sometimes poignant, always triggered by someone’s migration experience.

Whether you have migrated yourself or not, this magazine offers an opportunity for often untold stories to be told and to be heard. Maybe, in the words of one poem, reading this will raise ‘symbols of unity’ for all of us.

For more information and to buy a copy (as I will be doing as soon as the 2023 edition is out!), follow this link.