The Ungrateful Refugee
Iran

The Ungrateful Refugee

by Dina Nayeri

Immigration Non-Fiction Memoir Political Writing 2019

Summary

In The Ungrateful Refugee, Iranian-born writer Dina Nayeri combines her own story of displacement with the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers navigating unfamiliar countries and complicated immigration systems. At the age of eight, Nayeri fled Iran with her mother and brother after her mother converted to Christianity and faced persecution. The family spent time in a refugee camp in Italy before eventually receiving asylum in the United States.

Drawing on these experiences, Nayeri examines the emotional and psychological costs of leaving one’s homeland, rebuilding a life, and trying to belong in a new society. She also shares the stories of other displaced people, revealing the difficult choices they face when seeking protection and the pressure to prove that their suffering is genuine.

At the heart of the book is a challenge to the expectation that refugees must demonstrate constant gratitude to the countries that accept them. Nayeri questions the idea of the “good refugee” who assimilates without complaint, arguing that displaced people should not have to erase their identities or experiences to deserve safety and dignity.

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Country
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About the author
Dina Nayeri
Dina Nayeri

Dina Nayeri is an Iranian-born novelist, essayist, and nonfiction writer whose work explores migration, identity, belonging, and the complexities of the refugee experience. Born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1979, she fled the country with her mother and brother at the age of eight after her mother converted to Christianity. The family spent time seeking asylum in Italy before resettling in the United States, where Nayeri grew up. Nayeri studied at Princeton University, Harvard Business School, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, and Granta, among other publications. Her debut novel, A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea (2013), was translated into numerous languages, followed by Refuge (2017). Her acclaimed nonfiction book, The Ungrateful Refugee (2019), combines personal memoir with the stories of other asylum seekers, challenging the expectation that refugees must prove their worth through gratitude and assimilation. Her later book, Who Gets Believed? (2023), examines how society decides whose stories are considered credible. Nayeri has received the UNESCO City of Literature Paul Engle Prize and a National Endowment for the Arts grant. She teaches writing at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.

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Published
2019
Author
Dina Nayeri