A series of programmes that sets up a unique pairing between writers from countries challenged by refugee and migration issues with short story writers from Britain. Each foreign story was given to a British writer who wrote their own response, in an exchange of fiction that aims to explode myths, explore shared concerns and extend the boundaries of the short story.

In First Born by Leila Haidar, a Syrian mother mourns the death of her eldest son. The reader is Sirine Saba.

In Mish Green's response, Demoiselle, a woman prepares to join her friend working with migrating cranes in India. The reader is Clare Corbett.

Leila Haidar is the pseudonym of a published writer living in a regime-controlled area of Syria. Mish Green is a British-Canadian writer and spoken word artist. Mish has published one collection of poetry, and the book Jebel Marra, a collection of linked stories on Darfur’s ongoing war, is out now.

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 Show less