Religion Media Festival 2023: Onjali Rauf, children's author, on the legacy of Tintin

Religion Media Centre Podcast

Children's book author Onjali Rauf told the Religion Media Festival 2023 that children should not be overly protected from the problems of the world today. When she speaks in schools, she finds that children ask tough and great questions, which she describes as the “Tintin moment”, after the boy reporter in Hergé's stories, who kept asking questions to solve baffling mysteries. That is why, when delivering any talk, she carries with her a toy dog like Snowy, Tintin's loyal companion.

Tintin’s legacy, she believes, “centres on the courage to ask your question, to move forward and try to find the answers”, a quest for the truth linked to journalism. She explained that the children ask her questions arising from the bold themes she confronts in her books, from her best-seller "The Boy at the Back of the Class", the story of a refugee who finds a kind friend when he arrives at a UK school, to domestic abuse, being in foster care, suddenly losing a parent and being homeless.

Addressing the festival, she spoke of her public role as a woman of visible faith and campaigner for the rights of women and refugees. Following Onjali's address, presenter Hannah Scott-Joynt teased out the story with her own set of questions.

The festival was held at the JW3 Centre in North London, with a programme organised by the Religion Media Centre.

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