Four years after the passing of Iraj Khademi, a beloved member of the Seattle Iranian community and a longtime supporter of Persian and Iranian Studies at the University of Washington, the residency established in his memory is entering its third cycle.
Known affectionately as Amoo Iraj, Dr. Khademi played a crucial role in strengthening ties between the Iranian community and the University of Washington. Following his passing in August 2022, community members came together to honor his legacy through an ongoing fundraising campaign that made possible a new kind of initiative program at UW: a short residency bringing writers, translators, and scholars of Persian literature into conversation with students, faculty, and the broader Seattle community.
The first residency, held in November 2024, grew out of an open call that attracted 66 applications from approximately ten countries. The program brought three participants to Seattle: award-winning Afghan-Danish novelist and short-story writer Mohammad Asef Soltanzadeh; award-winning Tajik novelist, journalist, and activist Shahzoda Nazarova Samarqandi; and Laura Yasmine Catterson, then a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at UC Davis whose work focuses on Iranian and Iraqi poetry.
Their week in Seattle demonstrated the possibilities of a residency centered not simply on Persian as a language, but on the diverse literary worlds connected through it. The program included a book launch at Third Place Books, a Persian creative-writing workshop, a lecture on Persian poetry, and a panel on translating Persian literature. The participants also met with students and community members and explored the University of Washington’s collections.
Featuring literary translators Niloufar Talebi and Adeeba Talukder, the second cycle continued this effort to bring Persian literary cultures into wider conversation. The Iraj Khademi Residency has created opportunities for writers and translators to meet audiences who might otherwise have little access to contemporary Persian literature, while also giving members of the local community a chance to encounter literary traditions that are often divided by national and linguistic boundaries.
The third cycle builds on that foundation with a visit from Dr. Michelle Quay, who teaches Persian and Iranian cinema at Brown University and is an award-winning translator of Persian literature. Quay will join the Seattle community in October, bringing together her work in translation, Persian literature, and Iranian cinema.
As part of her visit, Third Place Books will host a reading on Tuesday, October 13, at 7 p.m., celebrating her recently published translation, Reza Ghassemi’s Woodwind Harmony in the Nighttime. The event continues one of the residency’s central commitments: bringing Persian literature beyond the university and into Seattle’s vibrant literary community.
From its beginning, the Iraj Khademi Residency has sought to create connections rather than simply organize events. That is precisely what distinguished Amoo Iraj from so many others in our city. He served as a node for our community. The residency is a testament to his lasting community organizing. Each cycle adds another set of voices and relationships to that growing network. The residency carries forward both a memorial and a vision: to keep building spaces where Persian literature can be read, translated, discussed, and shared across borders. In doing so, the residency continues the work that mattered deeply to Iraj Khademi—bringing people together through language, literature, and community.