Gulbahar Haitiwaji: To Make Us Slowly Disappear

This is one Uyghur woman’s astonishing story of survival. More than a million Uyghur Muslims are incarcerated in Chinese detention units: China describes them as re-education camps while human rights organisations accuse China of genocide. Gulbahar Haitiwaji is one of the few who have been able to give an insider’s view. Today she recalls her experiences and introduces her book How I Survived a Chinese ‘Re-education’ Camp, alongside her daughter Gulhumar Haitiwaji and chair Mairi Oliver.

Book Festival News

Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024 Communities Programme participants celebrate success of 2024
Friday 13 December

Enjoying this event? You can help us produce more like it.

Donate

Share

Watch more

Sam Baker & Carol Birch (2016 Event) Sam Baker & Carol Birch (2016 Event) Man Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Carol Birch presents her new book Orphans of the Carnival, which features powerful female characters separated by centuries and continents. Meanwhile, former editor of RED magazine and co-founder of The Pool, Sam… Flora Fraser: On Flora Macdonald Flora Fraser: On Flora Macdonald Historical biographer Flora Fraser has illuminated the hidden lives of queens and mistresses through revolutions and scandals. Now with Pretty Young Rebel, Fraser turns her sights to Flora Macdonald, who disguised Bonnie Prince Charlie as a maid and… Charles Yu: Smashing Hollywood Stereotypes Charles Yu: Smashing Hollywood Stereotypes What does it take for an actor to attain the status that gives them the tag of ‘Special Guest Star’ in a TV series? It takes something extra – and particularly so if you are an actor of Asian heritage, trying to break through in Hollywood. Charles Yu, an… David Keenan: A Mausoleum for the Two of Us David Keenan: A Mausoleum for the Two of Us ‘Hallucinatory’ and ‘entirely exhilarating,’ David Keenan’s debut novel This Is Memorial Device was as popular with reviewers as it was with readers. Published in 2017, Keenan’s alternative history of life for the lost youth of Airdrie in the late 1970s… Mark Haddon talks to Charlotte Higgins at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mark Haddon talks to Charlotte Higgins at the Edinburgh International Book Festival Mark Haddon is back with his first novel in seven years – and this could be his masterwork. The author behind The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time takes us on another wildly imaginative adventure in The Porpoise, a modern-day reworking of… Pat Barker: The Women of Troy Pat Barker: The Women of Troy Ever since winning the Booker Prize in 1995 for the third book in her Regeneration Trilogy, Pat Barker has demonstrated an uncanny ability to describe the psychology of individuals during times of conflict. In 2019 Barker published The Silence of the… Carol Ann Duffy: ‘You Danced On the Road, Blowing Kisses’ Carol Ann Duffy: ‘You Danced On the Road, Blowing Kisses’ ‘Your vacant room / is a still-life framed by the unclosed door; / read by sunlight, an open book on the floor.’ This plaintive cry will be familiar to many empty nesters who have seen a child grow up and leave home. Written by Carol Ann Duffy, it opens a… Juliana Buhring (2017 event) Juliana Buhring (2017 event) Feats of human endurance never cease to amaze and enthral. In 2012, against all odds, Juliana Buhring became the first woman to circumnavigate the world on a bike, after very little training and with barely any financial backing. In this event filmed live… Jeremy Bowen: Making the Middle East Jeremy Bowen: Making the Middle East Jeremy Bowen, International Editor BBC News, has been covering the Middle East since 1989. His deep understanding of the political, cultural, and religious differences between countries as diverse as Turkey, Syria, Israel, and Palestine shine from The… Playing with Books: The Yellow Door by Kathleen Jamie Playing with Books: The Yellow Door by Kathleen Jamie In the fourth year of our celebrated co-productions with the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, we present theatrical and musical explorations of scenes from much-loved books, followed by a discussion with the author and creative teams. Kathleen Jamie thinks…