Book Week Scotland 2021 - CELEBRATION

As The Curtain Rose

by Kevin Crowe

                                                                                      

I walked onto the stage, explained how far the group had travelled and the obstacles they'd had to overcome. I introduced the first person, nervous about the reaction.

 

I needn't have worried. The applause was loud and when all had finished performing, they were rewarded with a standing ovation. At the reception afterwards, my students were treated like celebrities. Clearly enjoying the limelight, they were grinning, even the shy ones who normally hid from view. We took plenty of orders for the forthcoming book.

 

It was amazing to think that just two years ago, they'd arrived here with only the clothes they wore, frightened and barely able to read or write English. Now these refugees had a better grasp of the language than many native speakers, had read their stories and poems in public and were about to be published.

 

I was proud of them all.