The hair of the pigeon by Mohammed Massoud Morsi

Morsi’s novel reveals the struggles of Palestinian refugees in Syria, living in the Yamouk camp, not the refugee tents that you might imagine but a large haphazard suburb of structures that have accumulated over time. The lives of the inhabitants have been upended by the conflict in the Middle East, ‘hopeful souls cast by fate as fodder to the beast of politics and power’. It is where Ghassan’s childhood begins, his friendship with thick-skinned Badawi, and nascent love for Sama, she of the swirling dark hair and the flock of homing pigeons.

At its heart this is a love story, told from Ghassan’s point of view. But he is reticent person; Sama describes him as different, his mind always elsewhere. Morsi allows his thoughts, sudden memories, and dreams to drop into the story, just as they do in life. Through them Ghassan (and the reader) gains insight into the emotions and events that thread his life.

Everything in Ghassan’s world is disrupted, people torn apart, people hurt, betrayed and killed. Most harrowing are the chapters about his capture and torture in Sednaya prison the ‘Human Slaughterhouse’, notorious during Assad’s regime. For those that flee, there is the desperation of escape by overloaded boats, at the mercy of thrashing waves and hostile naval craft.

The joy in this story is the sense of shared humanity, of people caring for each other, the friendship that burgeons in the loneliest places. They are characters that we can all relate to, creating an understanding that we all have the same hope and dreams, ‘our living oneness’. It is a profoundly moving account, one which is built from stories lived and experienced, and descriptions that reflect Morsi’s observant eye as photographer, journalist and now writer.

The hair of the pigeon is the well-deserving winner of the 2025 Dorothy Hewett Award.

Themes: Syria, Love, War, Refugees, Humanity, Endurance, Kindness, Redemption.

Helen Eddy