Ahmed M. Badr

A groundbreaking collection of poetry, personal narratives, and art from refugee youth from around the world—featuring a foreword by Ben Stiller, actor and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.
"One of Ahmed's poems explores why he survived the bomb that destroyed his childhood home. It says, "tragedies always end with a period, but yours ended with a semicolon." This book is what comes after the semicolon. The chorus of voices of young people from places as diverse as Venezuela, Somalia, Syria, and Bangladesh, will reaffirm your faith in human resilience and challenge your assumptions about what it means to be a refugee." —Ari Shapiro, Host, NPR's All Things Considered

Beginning in 2018, Ahmed M. Badr—an Iraqi-American poet and former refugee—traveled to Greece, Trinidad & Tobago, and Syracuse, New York, holding storytelling workshops with hundreds of displaced youth: those living in and outside of camps, as well as those adjusting to life after resettlement.

Combining Badr's own poetry with the personal narratives and creative contributions of dozens of young refugees, While the Earth Sleeps We Travel seeks to center and amplify the often unheard perspectives of those navigating through and beyond the complexities of displacement. The result is a diverse and moving collection—a meditation on the concept of "home" and a testament to the power of storytelling.

"An extraordinary showcase of international creativity . . . this book invites a more critical engagement with the differences we assume about one another, and the distances we can bridge by sharing our own stories." —Benj Pasek, Tony Award–winning composer of Dear Evan Hansen
"Badr exposes the richness, diversity, and sheer beauty of the inner worlds of young people who have experienced displacement." —Hassan Damluji, Deputy Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and author of The Responsible Globalist

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