the cuckoo's song out in all formats

My short story collection The Cuckoo's Song is 20 years in the making featuring my prize-winning and unpublished stories. It deals with themes that represent who I am. As I was parented by a mother who was a Bipolar sufferer I find myself coming back to themes that deal with mental health, especially within the context of Non-English-Speaking Communities as this places particular pressure on a sufferer and family due to stigma and lack of awareness.

Growing up I did not see myself represented in fiction and I write own voices stories exploring my Bosnian heritage and culture so that young people who have an ethnic cultural background feel validated in seeing their lives represented in fiction.

I love reading stories that explore the real life effects of being in a war and providing a slice of history. As a writer I love the process of immersing myself in real life research to write stories set during the Balkan War of 1992-1995 when Bosnia became an independent country.

Growing up raised by a single mother for most of my childhood, and then becoming a nuclear family when my mother married my stepfather, I am fascinated by the notions of family ties and family loyalty. I am also an advocate of LGBTQI rights and write characters who are part of this community.

'So devastatingly real' Maxine Beneba Clarke

I also wrote teaching notes for this collection with reading, research, analysis and writing activities.
amrapajalic.com/cuckoos-song.html