As I wrote and revised The Newcomer’s Dictionary, there were a number of excellent words that I did not have the space to include.
‘Nomad’ lost out to ‘Newcomer’; ‘Alien’ was left behind for ‘Abroad’; ‘Immigrant’ was the runner up to ‘Itinerant’; ‘Homesick’ won out over ‘History’ and ‘Transient’ beat out ‘Transfer’. At times, I would have appreciated a consulting panel to discuss the merits of individual words.
As I considered a word, I put it under a serious review. Was the definition relevant? Did it have any special associations, historical relevance or an element of surprise? How did it connect with my feelings around the past and in the present? Some words felt antiquated like ‘Abroad’ and ‘Keepsake’ but they were important to include to reflect how language and ideas associated with newcomers have evolved from the past up until the present. Also, it seemed important to acknowledge words that are used to negatively describe newcomers including ‘Gypsy,’ ‘Itinerant’ and ‘Vagabond’. Some of the words included in the dictionary are less relevant today but ‘Outsider’ and ‘Journey’ have stood the test of time and remain essential vocabulary for newcomers.
I took liberties, of course, and introduced words that aren’t in common usage. I included the word ‘Sojourner’ and decided to use ‘Xenophobia’ since I was not including ‘racism’—I did not feel comfortable writing directly about the topic in a short essay. But it was important to show how racism can impact on different newcomers but within the context of an overall newcomer experience. In “Belong’ I described how antisemitism operates, and in ‘Disappear’ and ‘Xenophobia,’ I shared stories where I experienced or witnessed racism.
Writing a book in some sense is talking to ourselves and others simultaneously. I wrote The Newcomer’s Dictionary to explore how values are formed and ideas and imagination can survive despite constant change. It also was a testament to experiences that might otherwise vanish. It was like writing a diary and a fairy tale at the same time. And this time around, I was hoping to arrive at a happy ending.
