I Am An Immigrant

Welcome to I am an Immigrant – a podcast series where I talk with people who used to live somewhere else and now live here, in the UK. I'm Christine Bacon, an Australian of Irish descent who moved here 15 years ago. Most of us have a picture in our mind when we hear the word 'immigrant'. The truth is (don’t tell anyone) we immigrants are mostly people who live regular lives, subscribe to streaming television services, work in a variety of jobs, socialise with friends, fall in and out of love, say and do stupid things and pick our kids up from school.

This podcast is not about getting into the immigration debate. We’ve had decades if not centuries of that mostly toxic conversation. We won’t talk about which migrants are good and how many is too many. Whatever image appears to you when you hear the word immigrant, I offer you this podcast to transform that picture into something way more interesting

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Mavin Khoo is a dancer and coach. He was born in Malaysia and moved between there and India from the age of 10-17. After a short stint in New York, he landed in the UK aged 18. His career has taken him all over the world. He is currently an Associate and Rehearsal Director at the Akram Kahn Dance Company. Their show Jungle Book Reimagined will play at the Edinburgh International Festival August 25-28. We talked about falling in love with dance in Malaysia at age 5, being a young queer man in London in the 90s and what Mavin does when he needs to turn his brain off.

Book your ticket to the show HERE

https://www.eif.co.uk/events/jungle-book-reimagined

Follow Mavin here

https://www.instagram.com/mavin_khoo

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I am an Immigrant is an ice&fire theatre production hosted by Christine Bacon, edited by Helen Clapp. Cover art by Ada Jusic.

This season is a special commission for the Edinburgh International Festival https://www.eif.co.uk

We love hearing from you – email [email protected]

We are particularly keen to hear your suggestions for future guests

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Social Media:

ice&fire - @iceandfireuk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meltem is 28 years old, a social entrepreneur and award-winning campaigner, and she lives in Cambridge with her partner and one year old son. Originally from the Kurdish part Turkey she and her mother fled to seek asylum in Europe when Meltem was very young. They ended up in the UK and waited six years for a decision on their case, which was rejected, after which they were taken to the notorious Yarl’s Wood immigration detention centre in Bedford and was locked up there at the age of 13 for 3 months. We didn’t talk much about what happened during those three months in this interview because Meltem has talked extensively about it. We talked about what it’s like being a child trying to find her place in the world and finding courage when it seems that all is lost.

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I am an Immigrant is and ice&fire theatre production hosted by Christine Bacon, edited by Helen Clapp. Cover art by Ada Jusic.

We love hearing from you – email [email protected]

We are particularly keen to hear your suggestions for future guests

*

Social Media:

ice&fire - @iceandfireuk

Meltem’s TedEx talk www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDbicQlE6no

#NoToHassockfield petition https://notohassockfield.org.uk/please-sign-agnes-tanohs-petition-at-change-org/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Akeim Toussaint Buck is an interdisciplinary performer and maker, born in Jamaica and raised in England. We talked about the good times, the not so good times, the rocky road to British citizenship and how dance became Akeim’s survival tool.

His solo show Windows Of Displacement is a dance theatre solo show. Working with dance, song and spoken word, Akeim explores diverse identities in today’s England. Using his own experience of being a Jamaican born citizen now a citizen in the UK as starting point, while further exploring both historical as well as current political and socio-economic references. Toussaint draws on the contexts of imperialism, colonialism and displacement to create a story of the past, present and future of humanity. Prepare to be taken on a journey galvanising people power and reclaiming our collective responsibility.

Book your ticket to the show, which is on at the Edinburgh International Festival on August 12 and 13 HERE

https://www.eif.co.uk/events/windows-of-displacement#about-the-show

Follow Akeim here

https://www.toussainttomove.com/

https://www.instagram.com/toussainttomove/

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I am an Immigrant is and ice&fire theatre production hosted by Christine Bacon, edited by Helen Clapp. Cover art by Ada Jusic.

This season is a special commission for the Edinburgh International Festival

https://www.eif.co.uk

We love hearing from you – email [email protected]

We are particularly keen to hear your suggestions for future guests

*

Social Media:

ice&fire - @iceandfireuk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Francisco Gomez is a veterinary surgeon from Spain who lives in a small town in Derbyshire. He came to the UK in the early 2000s thinking, like many of us do: I’ll stay six months or so, do a bit of travelling, have a little adventure. But life happened, love happened, jobs were offered, and he stayed. We talked about what it’s like to be the only immigrant in the village, how stressful a vet’s life can be, and what happened when his English colleagues found out he routinely had a glass of wine with his lunch each day.

“My accent is my accent, it's part of my identity. I don't want to lose it to be honest. It's a very good conversation starter when you've been here for three or four months. But when you've been here 15 years like me, it gets a bit boring.”

Francisco has his own podcast: More than Just a Vet

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I am an Immigrant is and ice&fire theatre production hosted by Christine Bacon, edited by Helen Clapp. Cover art by Ada Jusic.

We love hearing from you – email mailto:[email protected]

We are particularly keen to hear your suggestions for future guests

*

Social Media:

ice&fire - @iceandfireuk

More than Just a Vet @morethanavet

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.