Quotes - Kieran Yates

[...] for me, there is no neat duality, no cleanly sliced elements of my identity that are in opposition. There is no hollow insecurity about rootlessness because those additional details and stories I've learned are additions to our identity, not loses.

Being aware of inadequacies or seeing your own strangeness through different eyes, gives us a wholeness that allows us to see the world with humour, nuance, and complexity.

I know when to keep quiet; keeping quiet is all part of the displacement and I think of how keeping your head down is a crucial physicality of the immigrant experience.

[...] I can simultaneously cherry-pick my favourite aspects of my culture for anecdotes back home and social media, and keep the private, painful reflective ones for myself. This is what so many second-and-third generation immigrants experience visiting their homeland.

Knowing when to speak and knowing when to silently observe is a code that thousands of immigrants before me have learned to manoeuvre to their own end.

I know that language can be painful, and so too do a generation of immigrants who have arrived here through different pathways. For them, language is the great battle to fight, and for many it's a war you always feel like you're losing. Even when you get the language, unless you shed your accent, you're continually reminded of your difference.