We Carry Home within Us

60 WLT SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2017 P ersis Karim, a poet and the editor of three anthologies of Iranian diaspora literature, is the Neda Nobari Chair of the newly established Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University. In her new position , Karim is in the unique position to provide institutional recognition for the emerging field of Iranian diaspora studies—an extension of her long career of editing and promoting Iranian American literature and curating articles and anthologies of writers of Iranian origin. She sat down with novelist Laleh Khadivi and poet and translator Sholeh Wolpé to speak about their contributions to Iranian diaspora literature and the ways that the literature of Iranian Americans is reshaping our perceptions of Iran and the diaspora. Persis Karim: It’s great to have you in my kitchen in Berkeley for this informal conversation. Sholeh Wolpé: Thank you for the delicious Persian lunch. You make a great herb kookoo. Perhaps you can include the recipe for WLT’s readers. Karim: Maybe I will! But first, tell us how each of you came to writing? Laleh Khadivi: I came to writing late, after being a filmmaker and after dropping out of medical school. I was twenty-three when I decided to try my hand at fiction. I started writing stories that came from the generation before me (my grandparents ). I wanted to know who my grandparents were. By the time I was done writing the story, it had very little to do with them. It was just a portal. I had interviewed my aunts and uncles, but almost all the stories varied; they all said contradictory things. But the things they did say about the place, the atmosphere, about western Iran, and Kermanshah, those did agree. And that was very useful. And when I wanted to write the story of the protagonist, I did historical research. Wolpé: How did you get the truth out of your relatives? There is a concept of ab-roo in Iranian culture—saving face. It is hard to get people to speak openly and honestly. Khadivi: I had been interviewing people for a long time for other projects. I was good at listening to women in prison, sometimes telling the truth, sometimes telling a lie. I realized that lies are just as interesting as the truth. This lends itself to a richer, more layered, multidimensional story. And the fiction writer gets to do what she wants with that. Wolpé: A lot of times people tell the truth, but they omit and change things. What seems to have worked for you, is that you interviewed six people, and those omissions led you to a fuller story. Khadivi: The notion of Iranians carrying all this shame, that they don’t want to reveal themselves, that they have to omit things—that gives the fiction writer a delicious license. We Carry Home within Us” A Conversation with Laleh Khadivi & Sholeh Wolpé by Persis Karim “ As part of the diaspora, we are inheritors of this history; we carry these conflicts, these ruptures of history. – Laleh Khadivi cover section lives interrupted WORLDLIT.ORG 61 Karim: What about you, Sholeh? How did you come to writing? Wolpé: I was always fond of spinning tales. I used to write stories about our city, Tehran, and read them to my parents. They always listened patiently, then asked if I had done my math homework. I was a terrible student in just about every subject except literature. I hated history too, because they used no imagination in telling the fantastic stories of the world. All were dry facts and dates we had to memorize. I hated it. I was fond of debating with older people, something children weren’t allowed to do. It was impolite to contradict your elders. I think that’s why my parents sent me off at age thirteen to my aunt in Trinidad. She was strict. But she also opened a whole new world to me for which I’ll always be grateful. Karim: When did you begin to publish your work? Wolpé: I didn’t start submitting my writings for publication until I was in my late thirties. I come from a family

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