Voices of Solidarity - Press Release

July 7, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bay Area Writers To Raise Voices, Funds for People of Iran

(San Francisco, CA) — The Association of Iranian American Writers will host a literary reading and musical performance on Sunday, July 26 to express solidarity with the people of Iran, whose protest over the June elections has captured the hearts and imagination of the world.

The afternoon of readings and music will take place from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Intersection for the Arts, 446 Valencia St., in San Francisco. Bay Area Iranian American writers will read from their work, including poetry, fiction, nonfiction and rap that highlights the intersection between Iranian culture and American life. Freelance journalist Reese Erlich, author of The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis, will give a brief report about his recent visit to Iran to cover the elections. Aleph Null, a Persian jazz fusion group whose music combines Middle Eastern and Asian influences, also will perform. Books by AIAW writers will be available for purchase.

Despite the distance between San Francisco and Tehran, Persis Karim, co-director and founder of AIAW, said that even with recent turn of events, Americans can continue to support the pro- democracy movement in Iran.

Iranian American writers in particular can open a window into the culture of a country that few Americans know about, and can urge the media to keep covering Iran even after the crisis subsides.

“We don’t want their struggle to be forgotten,” said Karim. “Freedom of expression in Iran is important to us as Americans. It’s a right we want to support for Iranian citizens as well as for ourselves.”

This event is sponsored by AIAW with the support of Intersection for the Arts. AIAW is a national organization dedicated to promoting the work of fiction and non-fiction writers, poets, journalists, photojournalists, and artists who work with words. More information on AIAW is available at www.iranianamericanwriters.org

Donations of $10 or more are requested, with proceeds to go to support Amnesty International USA and its campaign to free those detained in Iran after the election protests.

For more information, please contact:

Persis Karim, AIAW Co-director:
persisk@yahoo.com
Media calls only: 510-847-2817

Beatrice Motamedi, Media Outreach Coordinator:
bymotamedi@gmail.com
Media calls only: 510-282-7379

Intersection for the Arts: 415-626-2787

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