Hamid and Shakespeare: The Tragi-Comic Journey of a Refugee

(Paperback)

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Hamid & Shakespeare is a debut graphic novel by a former Calais jungle refugee imagining a friendship between a refugee arriving in London today and the nations most famous playwright

A chance spotting from the back of a refrigerated lorry of a poster marking Shakespeares 400th birthday spurs a refugees imagination to transport himself from his detention cell to a performance of A Midsummer Nights Dream at Londons Globe Theatre. As we move between the 21st and 17th centuries, Shakespeare introduces Hamid both to a promised new land, and to a series of well known plays through which Hamid tells his own experiences: of interrogation, of his journey from home: crossing the sea, getting lost in the forest, his months spent in the Calais Jungle refugee camp, and his arrival in the UK in the back of a refrigerated lorry. In turn, Shakespeare teaches Hamid how to speak English and how to behave as he navigates the London Underground, and gives him a helping hand at the Home Office.

The book is created in collaboration with award-winning theatre company Good Chance who have worked with Adin since meeting him in their pop-up dome in the Calais Jungle.

Reviews

'Hamid and Shakespeare is the story of two people from different worlds colliding and finding that despite, or perhaps because of, their differences, they need each other. It's a rip-roaring adventure that sees England and Hamid's homeland seen through the eyes of newcomers. And it is this new lens, new perspective, new energy that we are so desperately in need of.' - Good Chance Artistic Directors Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson

Author Bio

Majid Adin is an artist and animator from Iran, now living in West Hampstead. He was forced to leave his home country, having been briefly imprisoned and politically exiled from Tehran after his blog upset the regime. He journeyed through Europe, spent several months in the Calais 'jungle', and after many attempts to make the crossing, finally arrived in the UK in a refrigerated van on 20th April 2016, coinciding with celebrations for Shakespeare's 400th anniversary. While in Calais, Majid encountered Good Chance theatre company, and took up his drawing pen again for the first time in ten years. Following his arrival in the UK, Good Chance and other organisations helped Adin pursue his profession, and in 2017 he won a competition to produce an animation for a music video to illustrate Elton John's song 'Rocket Man', with a tale about a lonely astronaut travelling across continents to a new home in England. Majid is now working on the graphic novel with the support of a grant from Arts Council England. Recent work includes projects with Good Chance, Art Refuge UK, Positives Negatives, Help Refugees and the House of Illustration. In spring 2019 he completed a residency at the Venice Biennale, curated by Ai Weiwei.