But it is his travels to one of the most dangerous countries in the world that has spurned his latest book The Kabul Peace House.

The Sydney-based researcher, author and activist went to war-torn Afghanistan in March 2016 with the Edmund Rice Centre.

"We were documenting what happened to failed or rejected asylum seekers who came to Australia," he said.

"Of the 150 returned at that time to Afghanistan 30 were killed after arrival."

Interestingly, his non-fiction work doesn't focus on those stories.

Instead it focuses on an unlikely peace project, a group of Afghan youth, who have come together to form a model community, a microcosm of how a new Afghanistan could be.

Mr Isaacs acknowledges Australians might have become desensitized to the problems in Afghanistan after the onslaught of media coverage during Australia's involvement in the war against the Taliban.

But he urges people not to be.

"What I love about this book is that it is a hopeful story...ultimately there is a way forward," he said.

"That is in many senses an easier sell."

Mr Isaacs first two books confronted similar themes.

His first book, The Undesirables: Inside Nauru was an account of his work with asylum seekers in Nauru.

His second book The Undesirables was an investigative report on human rights abuses on Nauru.

Mr isaacs worked for the Salvation Army in Nauru for a year.

"Our role in the Salvation Army was trying to distract and entertain people enough so they woudn't hurt themselves or kill themselves," he said.

He describes Nauru as "state sanctioned abuse".

While he concedes he doesn't support "deaths at sea" he believes the plight of asylum seekers has become a "political" rather than a "human" issue.

Mark Isaacs will be speaking on Thursday, September 12 2.00-3.30pm at Port Macquarie Library.