For eight years, journalist Susan Hartman followed three refugees building new lives in the old manufacturing city of Utica, New York:  Sadia, a bright, spirited Somali Bantu teenager who rebels against her formidable mother; Ali, an Iraqi interpreter who creates a home with an American woman but is haunted by war; and Mersiha, a Bosnian baker who gambles everything to open a café.

They are part of a remarkable migration:  Over the past four decades, thousands of refugees—fleeing persecution and war—have revitalized the small upstate city. They were finding their way in a city that needed them.

NEWS & EVENTS

NYU BOOK TALK
City of Refugees

Thu, February 9th, 2023

For eight years, journalist Susan Hartman followed three refugees building new lives in the old manufacturing city of Utica, New York:  Sadia, a bright, spirited Somali Bantu teenager who rebels against her formidable mother; Ali, an Iraqi interpreter who creates a home with an American woman but is haunted by war; and Mersiha, a Bosnian baker who gambles everything to open a café.

They are part of a remarkable migration:  Over the past four decades, thousands of refugees—fleeing persecution and war—have revitalized the small upstate city. They were finding their way in a city that needed them.

NEWS & EVENTS

NYU Book Talk: City of Refugees

Thursday, February 9th, 2023