Firoozeh Dumas, author of Laughing Without an Accent and best selling title Funny in Farsi

Thank you Aggies!

firoozeh — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:41:56 +0000

I just returned from Texas A & M where I received a big Texas welcome. I had an opportunity to first meet with some members of the Persian Student Association. There are several hundred Iranians in the graduate programs alone. When my father was there in 1952/53, he was the ONLY Iranian! Times have changed indeed.

That evening I spoke for about 700 members of the graduate community. It was a fantastic event full of questions and comments. I like to think that the conversations that started that evening will continue for a long time.

I also had a chance to visit Bizzell Hall, which had been my father’s dorm back in 1952. It is now home to many offices, including the International Students Office. As I walked up the steps, I could not help but think that 60 years ago, my father walked up the same, exact steps. Did he ever think that someday, his daughter would be on campus, giving a lecture?

Thank you Aggies!

Coming full circle…

firoozeh — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:24:03 +0000

Throughout my childhood, my father told me stories about his year at Texas A & M as a Fulbright student. Those stories were the most exciting stories I had ever heard, and so exotic too! The kind people, the food, the language that he claimed he spoke so well…these all made Texas A & M a mythic place, a place of legend that had shaped my father into the person that I knew.

On April 23, I will be giving a lecture at Texas A & M. Needless to say, I am thrilled. But you know who is even more thrilled than I am? My father. He’s been telling his stories to me all over again. And soon, I will be at his alma mater, telling my stories. Life comes full circle sometimes.

Cheers,

Firoozeh

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain

firoozeh — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:21:11 +0000

I wish there had been wind when I went to Oklahoma last July. Thankfully, I missed the real heat wave. It was only 105 degrees. It had been 110 degrees the day before.

But like all my travels, it wasn’t the weather that left a lasting impression, but the people. I met very kind, interesting and interested people. Among them, Prof. Scott Lamascus and Carla Walker, who interviewed me (for three hours!) for the Oklahoma Humanities Council Magazine. This is, by far, my favorite print interview of all time. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, and want to write a letter to the editor of the magazine, please do so! They will publish the letters in the next issue of the magazine.

http://www.okhumanities.org/Websites/ohc/images/Magazines/winter_2012/Firoozeh_Dumas.pdf

Enjoy the article, and the pictures. (Cut and paste the above link.) Notice that no one rocks a bouffant like my great second-grade teacher, Mrs. Sandberg!

Cheers,

Firoozeh

Council of Graduate Schools

firoozeh — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:28:36 +0000

Last week, I was the speaker for the LaPidus Luncheon at the Council of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting in Arizona. I was a last minute replacement for another speaker who could not make it. This the first time I have ever replaced anyone with a 24-hour notice. We speakers are a surprisingly hardy bunch. We almost never miss a lecture but in this case, I found myself on an airplane less than 24 hours after being invited.

What a fantastic group! I spoke for 700 deans and provosts of graduate programs in the US and abroad. That’s right. 700 PhD’s in one room. They were simply the best audience! No texting, and they got every single joke. From now on, I shall require PhD’s at all my talks.

I also had a chance to talk with the Associate Provost for Graduate Studies at Texas A & M. As some of you know, my father was a Fulbright Scholar there in 1953. That year changed his life. I am living proof that education benefits not just the graduate but future generations as well. Education is simply the best investment any society can make. Have you ever met anyone who regretted having an education?

-Firoozeh

Choo choo!

firoozeh — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:48:42 +0000

I’m getting ready to go to Williams College and Hilbert College. I’m excited for so many reasons…but get this, to go from Williamstown, MA to Hamburg, NY, I must travel by train. Remember those Agatha Christie novels where Poirot travels by train? Well that’s what I’m envisioning. I have never traveled by train in the US before and that is the only image in my mind. I’m also envisioning beautiful autumn leaves as I look out the train window. Am I expecting too much? Stay tuned!

By the way, if you live near Buffalo, join me on Oct. 13 at Hilbert College’s Swan Hall Auditorium at 7:30pm. It’s free and open to the public.

In the meantime, have you read a good book lately? If so, join me on Facebook and let me know the title.

Cheers,

Firoozeh

Links to videos from Aspen Summer Words 2011

firoozeh — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 03:33:35 +0000

Since so many of you could not join me in Aspen this past summer, here’s the next best thing: video links. To get you in the proper mood, you must envision beautiful green mountains, blue skies, crisp air and a whole bunch of physically fit people all around you. (There are no out-of-shape people in Aspen. I think they are forced to relocate.)

My Interview with Mona Eltahawy

My Interview with Khaled Hosseini

Firoozeh Dumas emcees My Middle East With Mona Eltahawy, Rabih Alameddine, Assaf Gavron, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Reza Aslan, and Khaled Hosseini

Let’s build some bridges…

firoozeh — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:20:41 +0000

I don’t normally respond to daily events on my website but the horrific events in Norway have gotten me thinking…For those of you who have been listening to or reading the eloquent and thought provoking words of Jan Egeland, Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, it is interesting to note that he used to live at International House at UC Berkeley. I can’t help but think what would have happened to Anders Breivik if he had once lived in such a place. I used to live at International House and it is the type of place where having a lunch in the cafeteria means sitting down with “the other”… whoever that may be for you. Stereotypes do not last long at International House; in fact, they are broken constantly through simple conversation.
It is always easier to destroy bridges than to build them. Here’s hoping that the Norwegian bridge builders far outnumber the destroyers.

Aspen Summer Words Literary Festival

firoozeh — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:14:01 +0000

I just returned from the Aspen Summer Words Literary Festival and to use a word that I normally try to avoid, it was AMAZING.

First of all, how often do writers have a chance to meet other writers? Writing is a solitary pursuit. It’s me, my computer and well, that’s it. So you can imagine what a treat it is to meet other writers, especially ones from other countries.

Mona Eltahawy was ON FIRE. If you do not know who she is, look her up on YouTube right now and join her Facebook and Twitter page. (She tweets like every 9 minutes so you will learn a lot.)

Khaled Hosseini was his usual self…adorable. He’s working on a third book and we all look forward to reading it. (By “we” I mean me and thirty million other people.)

Assaf Gavron…my new favorite Israeli writer. His book ALMOST DEAD will blow your mind, no pun intended.

Rabih Alameddine’s bestseller THE HAKAWATI is out in paperback and if you have not read it yet, RUN to the store and buy it. Holy, moly, I would pay to have reviews like that.

I finally had a chance to meet Reza Aslan, and yes, he is really smart, cute and witty. He has a bunch of projects in the pipeline, a media mogul in the making. He is our own Rupert Murdoch, but in a good way.

Elinor Lipman…if you like my books, you will LOVE hers. Come to think of it, I just love Elinor. She is completely amusing, like a one-woman show that you could watch for hours.

Colum McCann received the Aspen Prize for Literature. How is it that Ireland produces such fascinating writers? It turns out that Colum was close friends with my other favorite Irishman, the late, great Frank McCourt. Colum had to leave the festival early because he had to give a speech for the president of Ireland. I’ve heard that excuse before.

I also met two writers whose work I have not yet read, but now I will. Derek Green and Randall Kenan…remember those names and if they ever have a reading in your area, go. Their talent and warmth will win you over, or I will personally refund your money.

If you are ever in Aspen, make sure to drop by the Nugget Gallery. It’s a small photography gallery full of soul.

Lest you think my life is all ritzy, glitzy with trips to Aspen where I get to hang out with fascinating people, let me just say that I am now looking at a pile of laundry the size of Mt. Olympus, an empty refrigerator that needs to be filled and a house that needs to be cleaned. Yes, mom is home.

Join me in Aspen for the Writers Conference!

firoozeh — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:31:06 +0000

If you are planning your summer vacation, and want to do something fun, memorable AND educational, join me June 19-24 for Aspen Summer Words. The theme this year is Middle East and there is an amazing line-up of writers participating. I will be interviewing my friend Khaled Hosseini or Mr. Afghanistan, as I call him. To see who else will be there, here’s the link:

http://www.aspenwritersfoundation.org/www/aspensummerwords.html

Hope to see you there!

Happy new year! It’s 1390!

firoozeh — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:59:59 +0000

No, this is not an April Fool’s joke. Iranians just celebrated the new year and we’re partying like it’s 1390, because it is. Here’s my NPR interview about the new year:

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/18/134656808/Spring-Equinox-Signals-Persian-New-Year

Also, April is National Poetry Month and NPR’s Tell Me More asked its listeners to write poems on Twitter (140 characters or less). I sent one in and it was rejected. It was about Ahmadinejad. (You’re asking yourself, “What rhymes with Ahmadinejad?” Nothing.

But my second poem was selected for April 5. Here it is:

http://www.npr.org/series/135123884/muses-and-metaphor

Keep reading and writing!

Cheers,
Firoozeh