The Newcomer’s Dictionary

The Newcomer’s Dictionary is an A to Z of words that explore aspects of relocating. Whether you have moved or are considering a move, this dictionary will help to identify and describe the experience of being a newcomer.

Filtered through Joyce Agee’s memories and illustrated by her sister, Ellen Agee, this book identifies the often hidden and complex feelings that can be experienced by newcomers – whether first-time, seasoned or expatriate – as they relocate to a new suburb, city or country.

Now an Australian citizen, in writing this book Joyce has brought together the experiences of a nomadic expat with those of a newcomer child. She reflects on how her life has been impacted by the family’s frequent moves while she was growing up. Books, television programs and films were to become an emotional lifeline for the two sisters, giving them a sense of stability and continuity when everything else around them was constantly changing.

The Newcomer’s Dictionary also explores how language, which evolves over time and across cultures, influences our perception of newcomers. It describes the newcomer identity, experiences and emotions – above all the feelings of being an outsider and the need to belong.

Joyce Agee had already moved home seven times with her family, up and down the east coast of the United States, by the time she entered college. As an adult, she lived in England, Australia and the United States, pursuing a career as a freelance photographer and exhibitioncurator, working in the arts and cultural sectors of local government and higher education. In 2014, after a fifteen-year stint in Seattle, Washington, Joyce and her husband returned to Melbourne, Australia. It was there that she began to write The Newcomer's Dictionary as an exploration of the feelings that had arisen from a lifetime of arrivals and departures.

Ellen Agee knew by the age of five that she would be an artist. She is drawn to mixed media and installation work, and has a Master of Fine Arts in Fibers from Southern Illinois University. Her most recent exhibition, 'The Law School Brain', is a series of glass mosaic brains, inspired by her studies at Seattle University School of Law.