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West Coast ~ Shirindokht Nourmanesh - East Coast ~ Desiree Navab
Shirindokht Nourmanesh
DIRECTOR, AIAW, WEST COAST
AIAW means a lot to many of us. It is where we receive support from other poets and writers, and find inspiration with every word uttered, every poem recited, every story read. The alliance we have found in our meetings and monthly workshops has in many cases turned into treasured friendships and camaraderie—something I personally would like to see continue and thrive.
In the near future, I would like to see our organization more involved in the community and in collaboration with other literary organizations, especially those with roots and interests in the Middle East and Central Asia. I would also like to see AIAW not only as a stage for members to shine on but to have it as a valuable resource they can turn to in every step of their endeavor for excellence in writing.
Lastly I am very excited about co-directing with Desiree. Although we have not had the opportunity to meet, I feel connected with her. I am sure both of us will do whatever is in our power to continue what Persis and Manijeh envisioned for writers of Iranian descent.
As always, it is a pleasure to be a member of the Association of Iranian American Writers.
Read Shrindokht's full bio/profile >
Dr. Aphrodite Désirée Navab DIRECTOR, AIAW, EAST COAST
I am thrilled to work with Shirindokht as a new national co-director of AIAW. However, we can only be facilitators because AIAW is a writer-centered organization. It will only have the depth and breadth of its members' involvement and contribution. It is our members who play a leading role in creating a forum to support and inspire Iranian American writers and writing.
Having been a member of the East Coast chapter since the beginning, I would like to increase the number of events and gatherings to encourage friendships and connections between its members while also reaching outwards to the local community. Extending clear and meaningful ties to the public can only come from strong ties between the members and knowledge of and support of each other's works.
There is much work ahead in increasing active involvement and engagement in AIAW East Coast. As we are building a community here, I would like to see future projects that bridge the East and West Coast chapters of AIAW, promoting collaborations with each other and ultimately with other groups and networks engaged with literature and art.
With our profound beginning through Persis and Manijeh's efforts, I believe that we are on our way towards bringing Iranian-American voices to the North American arts scene.
Read Désirée's full bio/profile >
A political novel set in sixteenth century Iran that explores issues of gender and power. Read an excerpt from this book...
Legendary women—from Anne Boleyn to Queen Elizabeth I to Mary, Queen of Scots—changed the course of history in the royal courts of sixteenth-century England. They are celebrated in history books and novels, but few people know of the powerful women in the Muslim world, who formed alliances, served as key advisers to rulers, lobbied for power on behalf of their sons, and ruled in their own right. In Equal of the Sun, Anita Amirrezvani's gorgeously crafted tale of power, loyalty, and love in the royal court of Iran, she brings one such woman to life, Princess Pari Khan Khanoom Safavi.
"Amirrezvani's sixteenth century Iran is a world as complex as Shakespeare's London, that seethes with intrigue, passion, and lawlessness, a world where a brilliant young princess, who longs for power denied her as a female, and a servant, with a desire so relentless he half-destroys himself, make a desperate pact to control the government and fate of the country, and in doing so discover their greatest loves and sorrows. In this astonishing novel Amirrezvani reminds us what all human hearts suffer and dare. EQUAL OF THE SUN is an irresistible novel." —Jonis Agee, author of The River Wife"A dazzling historical novel of ancient Persia, a fairy tale of universal resonance, EQUAL OF THE SUN is a story of love and ambition, loyalty and intrigue, the eternal anguish of a heart—and a country—at war with itself. —Gina Nahai, author of Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith and Caspian Rain Read more book info here...
Shabnam Piryaei: 'ode to fragile'
'A Method for Counting Days' will be published by Furniture Press Books in 2012.
She has been awarded the Poets & Writers Amy Award for Poetry and the Transport of the Aim Poetry Prize, as well as grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. Most recently she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her writings have been performed at the MAD Theatre Festival in the United Kingdom, and her poetry-films have been screened at festivals and galleries in the U.S. and internationally.
"Contrary to its title, Shabnam Piryaei's first poetry collection comes on heavy. Don't be fooled by the reappearing motifs of eggshells, eyelids, and feathers; there is nothing brittle about the emotions in these poems... Piryaei offers us a complex collection that, as poet Muriel Rukeyser put it, reaches us intellectually while showing that "the way is through emotion, through what we call feeling."
- Hyphen Magazine
"With economy of language, the book strikes a power-punch of sharp, clear, contrasting, heart stopping, yet delicately precise, awe-inspiring imagery...This is a book outside the box of books. There are many good and really good poetry/prose books that have been published. This collection of works is excellent. It sets itself apart from other good books, by other authors, by the quality of the writing combined with the book's creative DNA. Each poem made me more ravenous for more." - Iranian.com
Mahvash Shariat-PanahiMahvash Shariat-Panahi is a professional Reflexologist and has earned mastery in
practicing meditation. She has written and published translations with her...Read More
Attention all writers: B|taa'rof is now accepting abstracts of Oral History adaptations.
B|taa'rof Magazine is committed to connecting future generations of the Iranian diaspora with its past by combining the elements of oral history with fiction. We call on writers to interview Iranians over the age of 40 about their everyday experiences from the 1980's and past, and to create compelling fictional adaptations using the interview as their bedrock.
The stories that emerge from these interviews encourage writers to be active participants with the content, to fuse imagination with memory, to connect meaningfully with a distant past.
Some narratives are distinctly Iranian, while others span the landscape of the human condition – B|taa'rof Magazine wants them all. The theme of our first issue – slated to be released in September – is based around the very Iranian concept of taa'rof.
Details:
See submission details here
All abstracts & content can be submitted to btaarof@iranianalliances.org.
We welcome interviews spoken in all languages, but the stories would have to be in English.
Future issues of B|taa'rof will tackle themes of Hair, Fashion, Street and Pop culture in Iran.
The following books are stylistically similar to our mission in that the stories are essentially true, but that fictional technique plaster over any narrative gaps to create a story that is not entirely nonfiction:
> Zeitoun, What is the What – Dave Eggers
> Berlin Stories Christopher Isherwood
> High Cotton – Darryl Pinckney
> Stop-Time – Frank Conroy
> The Autobiography of My Mother – Jamaica Kincaid
> Goodbye Columbus (short story) – Philip Roth
Please do not hesitate to contact B|taa'rof editors for more suggested reading or questions about developing an oral history adaptation.
Esther Kamkar and Roger Sedarat
2 poets reading:
Esther Kamkar
Roger Sedarat
1st Floor, Laurel Room, San Mateo Public Library ~ Wednesday, May 23, 2012, 5:30 PM
Esther Kamkar: Recipient of an Artist Grant from the Peninsula Community
Foundation (2001) and a grant from the Clay and Glass Arts Foundation (2003) to conduct a series of workshops on poetry and
handmade bookmaking for children in the Ecumenical Hunger Project in East Palo Alto. Esther Kamkar was born in Tehran, Iran
and started writing poems in 1989. She is the author of Hum of
Bees, Hummingbird Conditions, and A Leopard in My Pocket.
Esther lives and writes in Palo Alto, CA. Read more about Esther
Esther's website: www.estherkamkar.com
Roger Sedarat: is the author of Dear Regime: Letters to the Islamic Republic, which won Ohio UP's 2007 Hollis Summers
Prize, and Ghazal Games (Ohio UP, 2011). His translations of
classical and modern Persian verse have appeared in World Literature Today, Drunken Boat, and Asymptote. He teaches poetry
and literary translation in the MFA program at Queens College,
City University of New York.
Read more about Roger
Roger's website: www.sedarat.com
Free program, free parking. Space is limited so be there early!
Where: 1st Floor Laurel Room, San Mateo Public Library, 55 West 3rd Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94402
When: Weds, May 23, 2012 — 5:30 PM
More Info: (650) 522-7845
Website: www.smplibrary.org
Co-sponsored by the Iranian-American Library Advisory Committee of San Mateo Public Library
and iranianamericanwriters.org
Ezzat Goushegir
'My Name Is Inanna'
The Penghao Theater in Beijing staged the Chinese version of the one-act play 'My Name Is Inanna', created by Ezzat Goushegir
In this play, director Hu Xiaoqing explores the strong current of spirit in one person, and a nation. Ezzat's play showed from April 18 to 29, 2012
Congratulations Ezzat!
Publishing
Your Own Book
Advantages and opportunities of
publishing your own book
The hows and whys of self-publishing for authors, writers, poets and multi-media artists.
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Announcement
New Showcase of Books by AIAW Authors is underway and you're invited!
Author Book Submission Form
Author Book Showcase
Valuable publicity and exposure for you and your books.
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Djerassi Playwriting
Fellowship $27,000
Deadline Extended
There are only two weeks left to apply for the $27,000 Djerassi Playwriting Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Anyone with an MFA in playwriting or creative writing may apply, and there is no reading fee. Read More
The Association of Iranian American Writers is a network of writers who have roots in Iran and America and who seek to build a literary community.
AIAW is an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting the work of fiction and non-fiction writers, essayists, poets, journalists, photojournalists, and artists who work with words. Iranian heritage is an important aspect of our identity, although not an essential subject matter of our work...
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