Two years ago on August 6, Iraj Khademi, a beloved pillar of the Seattle Iranian community, passed away in Bellevue, Washington. Affectionately called Amoo Iraj by many, Dr. Khademi was a longtime supporter of our department and was instrumental in strengthening the connection between the community and UW’s Persian and Iranian Studies Program.
Since then, the Iranian community has come together to commemorate his legacy. Thanks to an ongoing fundraising campaign, MELC was able to launch a unique week-long residency in Persian literature. In May 2023, we made an open call for applications and received a whopping 66 applications from around 10 countries. Given the high volume of applications, we selected not one but three exciting individuals who will be in residence at the University of Washington between November 11-15, 2024.
- Mohammad Asef Soltanzadeh, award-winning Afghan novelist and short story writer, based in Denmark
- Shahzoda Nazarova Samarqandi, Tajik novelist, journalist, and activist from Uzbekistan, based in the Netherlands
- Laura Yasmine Catterson, doctoral candidate in comparative literature at the University of California, Davis, who works on Iranian and Iraqi poetry
MELC is planning a number of exciting events in partnership with Third Place Books and Seattle the City of Literature: a book launch at Third Place Books to celebrate the publication of Shahzoda’s novel, Mothersland, translated by our own Shelley Fairweather-Vega, a short story writing workshop in Persian offered by Asef, and a lecture on Persian poetry by Laura. Our aim is to engage a wide variety of audiences interested in the language arts and cultures of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The events promise to be impactful and public-facing, ones that Amoo Iraj would have been proud of.
MELC would like to thank Dr. Khademi’s family for their support, Drs. Ali Afrassiabi and Roy Ghazimorad for their leadership and fundraising efforts, the selection committee —Naghmeh Samini, Bahar Saadat, and Aria Fani— and everyone who has made a donation in Amoo Iraj’s memory. We sincerely hope that there will be many future iterations of this residency at UW.
Artwork by Amelia Ossorio, MELC student majoring in Persian