The Unsent Condolences

This collection of poems is the work of former refugee, Abdul Samad Haidari. The poems, grouped in five sections, give expression to the author's experiences of flight from war torn Afghanistan to Iran as a child of the oppressed Hazara ethnic group, and later travel by boat to Indonesia where he remained as a 'stateless' refugee without his family for 10 years until being accepted in 2023 to live in Aotearoa/ New Zealand.

The author's poetic voice bears witness to his pain, desperation, courage, resilience and capacity for hope. It forms part of a growing body of literature by long-term refugees who have turned to writing to reach out to the world community from their place of incarceration and to maintain their own sense of humanity and dignity.

This is the author's second book. The first The Red Ribbon was published in Indonesia by Gramedia.

Abdul Haidari has also worked as a journalist.