A greeting is where welcome begins. Whether it holds is the harder question.  Friday, 23 October 2026

Belonging question: What makes a person feel expected rather than merely tolerated?

Voices: Stephanie Ohlmann anchors the gathering through her book Hello Abbotsford and her research on local languages, showing how ordinary acts of welcome accumulate into belonging. Akberet Beyene brings the welcome that is administered rather than offered: the border, the paperwork, the official who decides. Albino Nyuol reads from Geographies of the Heart, then speaks from more than a decade on the other side of a settlement desk — having arrived himself, now in the business of receiving those who arrive.