Migration: Ali Smith, David Herd and Wolfgang Bauer listen for the true story – books podcast

As the UK adjusts to life outside the European Union, we ask if literature can get to the heart of an issue that dominated the referendum campaign

Anxiety about immigration may have driven the vote for Brexit – but in or out of the EU, the global forces driving migration remain. This week’s podcast asks if literature can pierce the myths surrounding this difficult subject, to reveal the human tragedy at its core.

As Comma Press publishes Refugee Tales, a collection inspired by Chaucer that tells the stories of people caught up in the UK immigration system, the novelist Ali Smith and the poet David Herd join us in the studio to examine if the voices of migrants can be heard over the waves of rhetoric. The playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak reads from his latest play, Love, Bombs and Apples, and explains how humour helps to build bridges between people. And journalist Wolfgang Bauer tells us why he gave up the protection of his German passport to go undercover on the dangerous sea crossing from Egypt to Italy.

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