Rukhsana Ahmad Homing Birds

Annotation

Reversing the usual refugee story cliches, Homing Birds shares the hopes, fears and aspirations of a young man searching for a place in which he feels he truly belongs.Young Afghan refugee Saeed desperately wants to reconnect with his roots and find his long-lost sister. So he leaves his adoptive family in London and returns home to Kabul to work as a doctor, eager to contribute to rebuilding a new Afghanistan.But as past and present collide, Saeed must face up to the reality of his changed world. This captivating and evocative play asks if a place can ever be home without a connection to family and roots?RUKHSANA AHMADAward-winning writer Rukhsana Ahmad has written and adapted many plays for stage and BBC Radio.River on Firewas a finalist in the Susan Smith Blackburn Awards,Wide Sargasso Seawas a finalist for the Writers' Guild Award for Best Radio Adaptation andSong for a Sanctuarywas a finalist for the CRE award for best original radio drama. Other plays includeMistaken: Annie Besant in IndiaandLetting Go.She has also written fiction:The Hope ChestandThe Gatekeeper's Wife and other stories. She has also translatedWe Sinful Women, a collection of contemporary Urdu feminist poetry andThe One Who Did Not Askby Altaf Fatima.REVIEWS OF PREVIOUS WORK"... the debates about belief and faith are clear and compelling and the play also bravely grapples with big spiritual ideas..." - Aleks Sierz, theatre critic"... sensitive approach gives painful credibility to the dilemmas facing women with nowhere else to go." - The Independent