| Let
Me Tell You Where I’ve Been
New Writing by Women of the
Iranian Diaspora
Edited
by Persis M. Karim
Foreword by Al Young
A
powerful literary view of Iranian culture and its influences
Winner
of the bronze medal for anthologies, ForeWord Book of the
Year Awards.
Until
recently, Iranian literature has overwhelmingly been the domain
of men. But the new hybrid culture of diaspora Iranians has
produced a prolific literature by women that reflects a unique
perspective and voice. Let Me Tell You Where I've Been
is an extensive collection of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction
by women whose lives have been shaped and influenced by Iran's
recent history, exile, immigration and the formation of new
cultural identities in the United States and Europe. These
writings represent an emerging and multi-cultural female sensibility.
Unlike many flat media portrayals of Iranian women—as
veiled, silenced—these writers offer a complex literary
view of Iranian culture and its influences. These writers
interrogate, challenge, and re-define notions of home and
language and their work offers readers an experience of Iranian
diaspora culture.
Featuring
over one hundred selections (two-thirds of which have never
been published before) by more than fifty contributors--including
such well-known writers as Gelareh Asayesh, Tara Bahrampour,
Firoozeh Dumas, Roya Hakakian and Mimi Khalvati--the collection
represents a substantial diversity of voices in this multicultural
community. Divided into six sections, the book's themes of
exile, family, culture resistance, and love, create a rich
and textured view of the Iranian diaspora. The poems, short
stories, and essays are suggestive of an important conversation
about Iran, Iranian culture, the Persian and English languages,
and the dual identities of many of its authors. This powerful
collection is a tribute to the wisdom, insight, and sensitivity
of women attempting to invent and articulate a literature
of in-betweenness.
“I’d
never heard of Sholeh Wolpe or the late Susan Atefat-Peckham
before this book; now I want to read everything they’ve
ever written. Their poems are daring and wise, full of love,
breathtakingly tender and hones. Do they write with a woman’s
sensitivity? Absolutely. Do I feel as though I’m reading
‘woman’s literature’? Absoutely not. It’s
deeper than that – both arresting and sublime in a way
that transcends gender.”
—Brad Buckholz, Austin American-Statesman
“This
is a surprising collection. . . . Persis Karim has located
a community of sensitive and articulate cultural observers
and mapped that explosion of creativity for us.”
—Michael
Beard, coeditor of Middle Eastern Literatures and
author of Naguib Mahfouz: From Regional Fame to Global
Recognition
“[These
writings] command our attention, not only for the range of
their subject matter and literary artistry, but for representing
a multiplicity of voices, the newest patch in this quilt of
American culture. They are allegories of our enriched nation
. . . the real thing.”
—Zohreh
T. Sullivan, author of Exiled Memories: Stories of Iranian
Diaspora
“In
these tender and no-so-tender pages you’ll find the
barely tellable story of what really happened to dreams deferred.
Through vivid, sometimes spellbinding accounts they provide,
these gifted writers speak powerfully to the subject of displacement.”
—Al
Young, from the Foreword
“We have to thank Persis Karim for
this wonderful book and for these powerful selections; they
offer an alternative to the currently politicized and one-sided
view of Iran and Iranian culture.”
—Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in
Tehran: A Memoir in Books
"Might
we present this stunning collection of voices to the U.S.
government? Might this be the perfect moment for bridges of
language and sensibility—delicious humanity—to
define and connect us? Cast aside the grim proclamations of
power and threat!
Gratitude to Persis Karim for this healing tonic of pomegranate
wisdom and pleasure."
—Naomi
Shihab Nye, poet and author of You & Yours, 19 Varieties
of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East
"Iran
is a land of paradoxes. It is also undergoing a momentous
and profound transformation. The delightfully diverse group
of women assembled in this important and timely anthology
offers a panoramic view of this complexity and dynamism. Persis
Karim ought to be congratulated."
—Farzaneh
Milani, director of Studies in Women and Gender at the University
of Virginia, is the author of Veils and Words: The Emerging
Voices of Iranian Women Writers
Persis
M. Karim was born and raised in the San Francisco
Bay Area by her Iranian father and French mother. She is an
associate professor of English and Comparative Literature
at San Jose State University. She has written numerous articles
about Iranian-American literature and is coeditor and contributing
author to A World Between: Poems, Short Stories and Essays
by Iranian-Americans.
Al
Young
is the poet laureate of California. Young has a long list
of publications as the author of novels and poetry collections
to musical memoirs and screenplays. Currently, he is working
on a new novel called A Piece of Cake, a sequel to
his Sitting Pretty.
May
2006
428 pages
6" x 9"
$24.95 Paper
ISBN-10: 1-55728-820-8
ISBN-13: 978-1-55728-820-2
$49.95 (s) Cloth Library Edition
ISBN-10: 1-55728-819-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-55728-819-6
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