Hopes and Dreams for a New Iran
A night of readings by Iranian-American writers whose work reflects the complexities and nuance of the diaspora. The pieces read will reflect the writers' hopes and dreams for an Iran moving forward. Featuring Laleh Khedivi, Susanne Pari and Dena Rod and with Sam Moussavi as MC.
MC Bio:
Sam Moussavi is an Iranian-American writer who authored two series of YA novels for EPIC Press, with one title, Texas Fridays: Dallas, winning the South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards for Drama in 2018. Sam is also a screenwriter whose piece, "Golden State: Pilot," placed in the semifinals of the ScreenCraft Screenwriting Contest in 2024. Sam’s writing primarily concerns the connection between California's past and present. Sam teaches Criminology at Sonoma State and San Francisco State and lives in Pacifica, California.
Reader Bios:
Laleh Khadivi was born in Esfahan, Iran. She has worked as a filmmaker and writer and is the author of the Kurdish Trilogy and her fiction and nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle and LitHub among other publications. Her work has received numerous accolades including a Whiting Award and the Barnes and Noble Discovery Award. She teaches fiction at the University of San Francisco MFA and lives in Oakland California.
Susanne Pari is the author of THE FORTUNE CATCHER, a novel of revolutionary Iran, and of IN THE TIME OF OUR HISTORY, about an Iranian American family grappling with generational clashes and the rebellion of its women. It was an IndieNext pick, Target Book Club pick, 2023 Women’s National Book Association Group Reads Selection, and Hoopla Spotlight Selection. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR. She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and PEN America.
Dena Rod is a non-binary poet and essayist whose debut poetry collection Scattered Arils is now in its fifth print run from Milk and Cake Press. You can find their writing in the anthology My Shadow is My Skin: Voices From the Iranian Diaspora, The Rumpus, SF Eater, and Autostraddle. They're currently at work on their first novel. Connect with Dena at their website denarod.com.
Mandana Mofidi is an Iranian-American storyteller whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Apple, CBS News, and Vice Media. When she is not freelancing on projects through her company Story Dots Media, she is lost in the Redwoods with her pup Luna.
Food & drink provided.