Description
Book SynopsisThrough more than thirty essays, My Shadow Is My Skin presents a broad, personal, and inclusive view of the Iranian diaspora in the US and reveals the intricate ways in which the diaspora continues to evolve.
Trade ReviewThe narratives in this collection go a long way toward making Iranian American immigrants visible. Offering familiar stories with a distinctive flavor,
My Shadow Is My Skin deftly explores their mixed feelings of pride and love, and of dislocation and criticism, for both the lost ancestral homeland and the new world, providing an important addition to our ever-unfolding understanding of American immigrant experiences. * Washington Post *
[
My Shadow Is My Skin] offers a powerful antidote to the reductive images by giving voice to a chorus of experiences by Iranian American writers. These are vivid and powerful human stories told by a diverse collection of writers who span a range of immigration experiences...At a time when we need to see Iranian Americans are indeed here, and that their stories matter, we now have a wonderful new collection that offers more nuanced and powerful images than those being continuously recycled in the headlines. * The Rumpus *
My Shadow is My Skin, beautifully and aptly named, presents a collection of incredibly personal, sometimes painful stories. With a range of experiences and topics, such as religion, sexuality, racism, and war, the essays provide a deeper look at a community often misunderstood by our peers, and misrepresented by the country we call home. The Iranian-American story is long and complex, with intermarriage, assimilation, and different waves of immigration, there are so many stories to tell. This anthology offers a variety of stories that glimpse at the rich tapestry of this experience. * National Iranian American Council *
The insight provided by most of [the essays in
My Shadow is My Skin] would certainly be eye-opening to non-immigrants. Then, of course, there are those whose own experience might be reflected in these writings which doubtless would find some solace in the knowledge that they did not struggle alone. All in all, through noble endeavors such as the compiling of this collection, one can say it is a good time to be an Iranian in exile. * Peyk Magazine *
[
My Shadow Is My Skin] boasts a uniquely heterogenous collection of diasporic writing. * Iranian Studies *
Table of Contents
- Foreword, Persis Karim
- Introduction
- LIGHT/SHADOW
- The Summer I Disappeared, Jasmin Darznik
- Sacrifices, Iraj Isaac Rahmim
- Shadow Nation, Cyrus M. Copeland
- Two Minutes to Midnight, Daniel Rafinejad
- When We Were Lions, Mehdi Tavana Okasi
- Fortune-Tellers, Dena Afrasiabi
- Silkscreen, Omid Fallahazad
- Hookah, Once upon a Time (Pastiche after Roberto Bolaño), Poupeh Missaghi
- Think of the Trees, Leila Emery
- Pushing the Boundaries, Dena Rod
- Uninvited Guest, Roia Ferrazares
- CODING/DECODING
- The Name on My Coffee Cup, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
- Negotiating Memories, Amy Malek
- In Praise of Big Noses, Persis Karim
- Transmutations of/by Language, Raha Namy
- Gilad, My Enemy, Salar Abdoh
- Two Countries, One Divided Self, Roger Sedarat
- Mothering across the Cultural Divide, Katherine Whitney
- My Mom Killed Michael Jackson, Shokoofeh Rajabzadeh
- Am I an Immigrant?, Roxanne Varzi
- 1,916 Days, Mandana Chaffa
- Culture beyond Language, Leyla Farzaneh
- MEMORY/LONGING
- Forget Me Not, Shideh Etaat
- Errand, Babak Elahi
- The Color of the Bricks, Farnaz Fatemi
- Renounce and Abjure All Allegiance, Renata Khoshroo Louwers
- Learning Farsi, Darius Atefat-Peckham
- Delam Tang Shodeh, Shireen Day
- Walking with Zahra, Layla Razavi
- Halva, Nazanine Attaran
- Her Orange-Blossom Tea, Maryam Atai
- The Iranians of Mercer Island, Siamak Vossoughi
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
