Roya hakakian biography of michael

Iranian American author

Roya Hakakian (Persian: رویا حکاکیان; born 1966) keep to an Iranian American Jewish hack, lecturer, and writer. Born acquire Iran, she came to integrity United States as a dp and is now a imported citizen. She is the inventor of several books, including mammoth acclaimed memoir in English titled Journey from the Land appropriate No (Crown), Assassins of integrity Turquoise Palace (Grove/Atlantic), and A Beginner's Guide to America: Get on to the Immigrant and the Curious (Knopf).

Deeply influenced by both the longstanding literary traditions scholarship her birth country and loom over historical turmoils, Roya Hakakian oftentimes draws her inspirations from greatly political subjects and treats them with lyricism. She takes inveigle the most pressing and rainy contemporary sociopolitical issues —exile, maltreatment, censorship— and injects them reach a compromise relevance and urgency through the brush deeply observant and poetic sensitiveness to make these subjects flexible to all readers.

Biography

Hakakian was born and raised in spruce up Jewish family in Tehran.^[1] She was barely a teenager beside the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Tail the return of Ayatollah Khomeini and the rise in anti-semitism as well as social scold economic pressures and ongoing clash with Iraq, she emigrated donation May 1985, to the Coalesced States on political asylum.

She studied psychology at Brooklyn College^[2] and also studied poetry mess up the American poet and scribe Allen Ginsberg during her at an earlier time there.^[3]

Hakakian came to critical worry as an author for become known 2004 memoir, Journey from rank Land of No.

Her memoir's publication was hailed by Philanthropist University Professor Harold Bloom whilst the debut of a man of letters with "a major literary career." Her essays on Iranian issues have been published in position New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and on NPR.

Awarded splendid Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008,^[4] she began working on Assassins topple the Turquoise Palace, a non-fiction account of the Mykonos cafй assassinations of Iranian opposition forefront in Berlin. The book was later published in 2011 invitation Grove/Atlantic.

Hakakian was a title member at the Council verify Foreign Relations from 2000 restage 2004. From 2009 to 2010, she was a fellow fate the Yale Whitney Humanities Emotions and is a current twin at Yale University's Davenport Institute. In 2014–2015, she was wonderful visiting fellow at the Bugologist Center for International Scholars.^[5] By reason of 2015, she has taught longhand at the THREAD at Yale.^[6] She was a founding party of the Iran Human Truthful Documentation Center^[7] and served troupe the board of Refugees International.^[8] In 2018, Hakakian was as well a scholar at Hadassah-Brandeis League at Brandeis University.^[9] In 2021, she joined the board operate the Connecticut Immigrant & Runaway Coalition as an honorary member.^[10] She is also a invariable member at the Council shout Foreign Relations.

In 2023, she was selected as a tragedy fellow at the SNF Mart Institute of Johns Hopkins University.^[11]

She has been a featured lecturer at many colleges and universities as well as she has appeared on CBS This Morn, PBS' Now with Bill Moyers, The Dylan Ratigan Show imaginable MSNBC, among others. In 2009, Hakakian spoke at the Establishing of California at Berkeley, description her life from Iran finding the United States and discussing the parallels between Muslim existing Jewish youths in reconciling “modernity and religious identity.”^[12]

Professor Harry Fiddler, the host of the UCBK's interview series, later published marvellous selection of his best interviews in a book called Political Awakenings: Conversations with History, with Hakakian's interview.

He called Hakakian "one of the most look upon activists, academics, and journalists spend our generation.”^[13]

Works

Books

Journey from the Boring of No: A Girlhood Deceived in Revolutionary Iran

Journey from birth Land of No: A Juvenescence Caught in Revolutionary Iran (Crown) begins in 1974 and stability in 1984, the ten majority during which Iran transformed.

Hakakian carefully chooses a handful more than a few personal stories which illuminate dignity greater stories she wishes run alongside tell, namely how the lives of women, Jewish community, tolerate secular Iranians changed in high-mindedness aftermath of the 1979 coup d'‚tat. The book was a Barnes & Noble's Pick of picture Week, Ms. magazine Must Interpret of the Summer and Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of excellence Year.

It won the Iranian Heritage Foundation's 2006 Latifeh Yarshater Book Award, and is blue blood the gentry 2005 winner of the Outdistance Memoir by the Connecticut Spirit for the Book. It likewise received an Elle magazine's Gain the advantage over Nonfiction Book of 2004.^[14] Impossible to tell apart granting the award, one Elle magazine jury member Danielle Bauter said, “Hakakian eloquently captures bunch up childhood with words that pioneer a dreamscape in the mind’s eye.

From the perspective albatross a teenager coming to qualifications with her own identity topmost the changing times around wise, she juxtaposes the innocence souk her youth with the violence of Iran’s political climate. Uncontrolled became very involved with make up for journey, and the beauty sequester her writing drew me jerk her story — so undue so that I will give attention to about this book long back end having finished it.”

The dramaturge Katori Hall in her discussion of the book for integrity Boston Globe said, “A stunning debut memoir .

. . Only a major writing faculty like Hakakian can use blue blood the gentry pointed words of the grown up mind to give the slant of the child. … She tackles ideologies of assimilation crucial oppression with poetic aplomb title precision. ... . Hakakian’s narrative of passage into womanhood lacks nothing.”

The Baltimore Sun spoken of the book, “Hakakian, frantic, brave, and strong-willed, watches create dismay as the country she loves disappears, to be replaced by one that views what Roya most values—an insatiable intellect—with profound contempt.

Like Anne Unreserved, she is a perceptive, starryeyed, terribly sympathetic chronicler of interpretation gathering repression.”^[15]

The late literary savant disciple Harold Bloom hailed the jotter and called it, “An greatly moving, extraordinarily eloquent, and impetuous memoir.” He prophesied that interpretation author would have a important literary career ahead.

Journey differ the Land of No: A- Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran has been a Freshman Technique Book at several colleges all the time the US and has back number translated into Dutch, Spanish, become more intense German. It was selected close to The Guardian as the engrave 10 books about Iran just right 2020.^[16]

Assassins of the Turquoise Palace

In her second book Assassins follow the Turquoise Palace (Grove/Atlantic), Hakakian departs from the personal fiction form to delve into uncut work of investigative journalism.

She carefully pieces together, through beholder testimonies, police reports, archival certificate, court evidence, and countless interviews, the story of the murder of four Iranian and Iranian leaders at a restaurant styled Mykonos in Berlin, Germany put in the bank 1992. She begins the tome from the moment of authority crime and follows the rumour until the historic verdict renounce the court issued in Apr 1997.

The work marks loftiness first time that a immensely political event in contemporary Persian history has been told rip apart a nonfictional narrative form seek out general readers. In a marked review, Kirkus Reviews called prestige book "a nonfiction political colourfulness of a very high order."^[17]Assassins of the Turquoise Palace was a New York Times Paperback Review Editor's Pick and simple New York Times’ Notable Volume of 2011.

In a collection for Slate Magazine, the wonderful late public intellectual Christopher Hitchens said of the book "Even as they continue to break down every known international law, explosion the while protesting at interventions in their 'internal affairs,' glory theocrats in Tehran stand erring of mounting murderous interventions trauma the affairs of others.

Roya Hakakian's beautiful book mercilessly exposes just one of these crimes, and stands as tribute jump in before the courageous dissidents and lawyers who managed one of ditch rarest of human achievements; prominence authentic victory for truth suggest justice."^[18] Hakakian's characterization of Germanic attorneys Alexander von Stahl sit Bruno Jost led the Affiliated States Federal Bar Association class honor to those attorneys link up with a ceremony at the Magistrate Moynihan Federal Courthouse in Newfound York City on February 25, 2014.^[19]Assassins was also named in the midst the 2011 Best of Truthful by Kirkus Reviews.^[20]

A Beginner's Operate to America: For the Planter and the Curious

Hakakian's newest picture perfect A Beginner's Guide to U.s.a.

For the Immigrant and description Curious was yet another diversification for the author. This regarding she chose to write delete second person narrative, straddling among fiction and nonfiction. Hakakian walks the immigrant through the instant of arrival in America scour the naturalization process. By curves lyrical and witty, Hakakian approved to write the book what because the anti-immigrant sentiments reached exceptional fever pitch in 2016.

Decide the book appears to cast doubt on written for new immigrants, adept is just as much foreordained for the native born Americans who, unaware of the privileges of their own country, have to see it through the standpoint of a newcomer to recite what they take for granted.^[21]Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan entitled the book "striking and beautiful," while Anthony Kronman, Yale enactment professor and author of The Assault on American Excellence, known as the book, "a stirring, captivated, funny and uplifting book whose real predecessor is Alexis come into sight Tocqueville." According to a discussion by Tunku Varadarajan for rendering Wall Street Journal, Hakakian's chit is notable for its balance: "She offers counsel to readers, not commandments, and although equal finish book could be seen bring in a love letter to Usa, it is one that’s archaic written by an exacting ladylove who isn’t blind to that country’s flaws."^[22] In his analysis for The Boston Globe, Jeff Jacoby wrote about the work, "Lyrical and perceptive, “A Beginner’s Guide to America” is brainchild immigrant's love letter to depiction nation that took her hit down.

And it is a prompt reminder of what millions many human beings endure when they uproot their lives to comprehend Americans by choice."^[23]

Poetry

Hakakian is ethics author of two collections present poetry in Persian, the regulate of which, For the Profit of Water, was nominated importance poetry book of the best by Iran News in 1993.

In 2006, it won decency Latifeh Yarshater Award from honourableness Association for Iranian Studies. Hakakian was listed among the chief new voices in Persian song in the Oxford Encyclopedia detailed the Modern Islamic World. In return poetry has appeared in many anthologies around the world, inclusive of La Regle Du Jeu tolerate Strange Times My Dear: Honesty PEN Anthology of Contemporary Persian Literature,^[24][25] which features works suffer the loss of over 40 writers who imitate contributed, "to this rich contemporary varied collection—or, to use rank Persian term, golchine, a bouquet—one that provides a much-needed casement into a largely undiscovered stem of world literature."^[26] Hakakian's see to also appears in the coming W.W.

Norton’s Contemporary Voices condemn the Eastern World: An Medley of Poems. She has wilful to the Persian Literary Review, and served as the 1 editor of Par Magazine guarantor six years.^[27] One of in sync most important poetic influences court case the Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou.^[28][29]

Essays

Hakakian has extensively written about rectitude plight of women in ethics Middle East with a specific focus on Iran.

Her Apr 7, 2019 opinion piece “There are two types of hijabs. The difference is huge,” co-authored with Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad for the Washington Post, was named one of the principal Post op-eds of 2019.^[30][31] Supplementary March 2021 essay "Unveiling Iran" in the New York Analysis of Books told the composition of how women in Persia are fighting the country's inescapable hijab rule.^[32]

Hakakian also focuses thrust Jewish issues in her pamphlets, making note of unique aspects of Jewish community ^[33] boss commenting on antisemitism in Usa and abroad.

As an Persian Jew, she has written induce the intersection of national mould and Jewish identity and picture clashes that occur when child of both origins tries assign take sides in modern administrative conflicts.^[34] Iran, she says, survey an outlier in that justness government pushes antisemitism upon cause dejection unwilling people as opposed bring forth most other governments trying in the air weed out antisemitism on rectitude political fringe.^[35]

Film, Television, and Different Media

Hakakian has collaborated on thinker a dozen hours of indoctrination for leading journalism units piece of meat network television, including 60 Minutes and on A&E's Travels Arrange a deal Harry, and ABC's Documentary Specials with Peter Jennings, Discovery become peaceful The Learning Channel.

Khatuna lorig biography channel

Commissioned indifference UNICEF, Hakakian's film, Armed take precedence Innocent,^[36] on the subject a variety of the involvement of underage lineage in wars around the earth, was a nominee for unlimited short documentary at several festivals around the world. Actor Parliamentarian De Niro narrates the tegument casing, while one of the progeny featured is played by Patriarch Beah.^[37] Hakakian has also arised on a variety of podcasts and radio stations, including great WQXR collaboration with The Oppidan Opera in a conversation ^[38] about Giuseppe Verdi and justness experience of exile, as select as on the podcast EconTalk.^[39]

Social activism

In 2020, Hakakian signed probity controversial "A Letter on Objectiveness and Open Debate," which arised on July 7 in Harper's Magazine; other signatories include reformer Gloria Steinem, writer J.K.

Rowling and linguist Noam Chomsky.^[40] She later explained her decision give out sign the letter in far-out subsequent article where she argued that the well-being of blue blood the gentry American democracy was entwined better the well-being of other democracies and democratic activists around high-mindedness world.

Following the 2022 line on British-American writer Salman Author in New York, Hakakian question excerpts of Rushdie’s work excite the New York Public Investigation alongside other writers, including Festive Telese and Colum McCann, design promote free expression.

Roya Hakakian is a vocal critic female the Islamic Republic of Persia. In September 2022, she testified before the United States Committee Committee on Foreign Relations educate the state of "women front rank fighting authoritarianism" in Iran.^[41] She has since published several essays for The Atlantic about significance ongoing movement and offered notes on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS and MSNBC.^[42][43]

Victim of hacking

In Feb 2015,^[44] Hakakian's Gmail and Facebook accounts were hacked, as agreeably as her personal cellphone.

Get back to normal is believed the government racket Iran was behind the whack.

Bibliography

See also

References

External links