Camden A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans
Edited by Persis M. Karim and Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami
Publish date: April 1999

Suzhou
from Library Journal
While many themes in this collection echo typical immigrant experiences, most of the contributions offer unusual glimpses into a lesser-known and often stereotyped ethnic group. The majority of the more than one million Iranian Americans left their homeland after the 1979 events that brought down the Shah and ushered in a new fundamentalist order. This anthology includes stories, essays, and poems by more than 30 first- and second-generation Iranian Americans, set against the backdrop of the Islamic revolution in Iran and refugee life in America. Charming and deeply personal, the writings often reflect on the pain of alienation and cultural struggle. The diversity of the contributors is noteworthy, ranging from 14-year-old Sharif, whose poem “My Father’s Shoes” describes the pain of exile, to Persian poet and New York University professor Mohammad Khorrami. This first-ever collection of writings in English by Iranian American literary talents is highly recommended for most libraries.AAli Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans
Edited by Persis M. Karim and Mohammad Mehdi Khorrami
Publish date: April 1999

from Publishers’ Weekly
The 1979 Iranian revolution catalyzed the migration of more than one million Iranians to the U.S. The writings of the first generation of immigrants reveal their common “sense of alienation and ‘in-betweenness,’ ” according to editor Khorrami. The result is that an impression of bleaknessAeven bitternessAand mourning pervades this collection of original poems, short stories and transcripts of videotaped interviews with Iranian-American students conducted at UC-Berkeley. Zara Houshmand’s poem “I Pass” exposes the universal dilemma of the outsider: “I hold the cards close to my chest;/ I bluff./ You call./ I pass.” Likewise, Laleh Khalili’s poem “Defeated” recounts how many immigrants “slowly unlearned [their] ancestry” and “lost” themselves. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet’s story “Martyrdom Street” describes a woman coming back to consciousness after an Iraqi bombing of an Iranian post office, next to “a man’s dismembered hand, beautiful with long artistic fingers, capable of painting masterpieces or composing epics.” This woman “survives,” but loses the use of her own left hand and watches helplessly as her marriage becomes a casualty of war. Though too bleak to be read in one sitting, these stories and poems are eloquent testimony to the eminent desirability of peace.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.