Pars Arts

Hossein Derakhshan Arrested

This is old news that was reported by an Iranian source a few weeks ago but not confirmed elsewhere. Today Iranian blogger Khorshid Khanoom/Lady Sun writes that she has word that Hossein Derakhshan, aka Hoder, was indeed arrested in Iran on November 1. From her English-language blog, Lady Sun:

I am quoting this news from Nazli Kamvari, a friend of Hossein Derakhshan and an Iranian blogger living in Toronto, who has been directly in touch with Hossein’s sister and just wrote about this news in her Persian blog.

My understanding is that Hossein’s family has been under pressure from the authorities not to talk about Hossein’s arrest and not to get a lawyer for him. So, it is understandable that they are not talking to the media. But we at least can assure both the Persian and global blogosphere, who were previously in doubts about Hossein’s arrest, that he’s really arrested.

Esha Momeni, Iranian-American Activist

MobLogic covers the arrest of Iranian-American women’s rights activist Esha Momeni (click her name for ways to help her). She was working on her graduate thesis in Iran and got pulled over and taken to prison when she was driving alone in Tehran.

Iranian American Writers Online

The Association of Iranian American Writers (AIAW) has just launched their website, iranianamericanwriters.org, which features member profiles, excerpts of member work, and a blog. From the group’s mission statement:

The Association of Iranian American Writers is a member-based organization dedicated to promoting the work of fiction and non-fiction writers, essayists, poets, journalists, photojournalists, and artists who work with words. Iranian heritage and/or Iranian history and culture are important aspects of our work, although not necessarily our essential subject matter.

Membership starts at $50 ($35 for students). The group was founded by professor and writer Persis Karim and is co-directed by her and writer Manijeh Nasrabadi.

(Full disclosure: I spoke at AIAW’s inaugural conference.)

Voices for Peace

Here’s an Iranian collaboration that’s both impressive and easy to support. Voices for Peace is a PSA featuring some prominent Iranian-American faces, all against war on Iran. Take a look, and pass it on.

Arsham Parsi, Founder of IRQO, on Gay Life in Iran

Check out Arsham Parsi, founder of the Iranian Queer Organization, talking about gay life in Iran with Lindsay Campbell on MobLogic.TV and how Google helped him realize that being gay is normal and okay. He also addresses the sex change business in Iran. The video basically makes me want to give him a hug. He is awesome. Way to go, Arsham!

Pars Arts Twitters Irvine: the Iranian-American Writers Association

The Inauguration of the Association of Iranian-American Writers is happening at UC Irvine tomorrow, in a workshop format that will address issues of representation and etc. It’s hosted by UCI’s Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture and its director, Nasrin Rahimieh, as well as writer and professor Persis Karim and journalist Homa Sarshar. Here’s a press release on Payvand News, and here’s the full day’s schedule. It’s free and open to the public, so please come if you can.

The attendees include people like novelists Porochista Khakpour and Anita Amirrezvani. And I’ll be there to talk about the Internet and blogs and self-publishing and social media, on a panel with Jahanshah Javid of Iranian.com. My talk will probably be mostly focused on the benefits for writers in engaging with their readership online.

I may not have wireless access there, but I will be talking to people, taking pictures, possibly shooting some video, and updating microblog site Twitter constantly throughout the day via my cell phone. You can follow that “coverage” at twitter.com/parsarts.

Children of Persia 2008 Calendar

Merry Christmas. Here’s a last-minute gift idea for people celebrating today: the 2008 Children of Persia calendar. The $20 donation goes to that organization’s many educational and relief efforts
in Iran and among global Iranians. And the calendar’s theme for ‘08 is Persian architecture, which makes this gift useful, beautiful, and altruistic. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Homeless and Iranian

The man in this video is homeless in Los Angeles. He is also Iranian. Does the stigma of homelessness, mental illness, and other social problems in Iranian society create a system in our culture in which people who have these problems find it harder to overcome them? Do Iranians have a responsibility for other Iranians’ well-being? More of a responsibility than they have to anyone else, especially if they live in an affluent city like LA? Where’s the logic in this man’s thoughts regarding gambling as income? What’s the line between helping someone and enabling them? Do Persian-language social services exist in America? Is he on drugs? All questions swirling in my head as I take in this hard-to-watch report from bebin.tv. This is just part 1, and I’m looking forward to the continuation of this story.

Iranians on Facebook

Word on the street is Facebook is banned in Iran, but there are about ten jillion global Iranians on the social network anyway, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them. Sadly, there are not nearly as many cool Iranian-related applications (Or maybe that’s a good thing, because application invites are getting really annoying – no, I do not want to be a zombie/vampire/pirate, you loser! And stop writing on my nonexistent FunWall!) but one I’ve found so far is the clever Faal e Hafez, which simulates the popular Iranian custom of fortune-telling via Hafez’s poetry.

More recently, Kiosk guitarist Babak Khiavchi created the Iranians of the Day application, which pulls current content from what is, arguably, Iranian.com’s best section – the one that highlights ordinary and extraordinary Iranians and satisfies your (okay, fine, my) inner Iranian-Internet voyeur. Seriously, without Iranians of the Day I don’t think I really would have gotten sucked into the whole Iranian thing, so if you’re on Facebook and you’re still waiting for an RSS feed for this section of Iranian.com, install the app and you’ll be content.

And another thing about Iranians on Facebook… it’s a really good way to connect with long-lost cousins (true story – I’ve found peeps from both sides, even) and get in touch with some pretty fancy professionals.

How do you use Facebook to get down with your Perzhian-ness? Leave a comment and I’ll update this post with your genius.

Javad Party, Los Angeles

Tonight, if you’re in LA, you should really check out the Javad Party going on tonight in the Valley. Javads are as close as Iranians get to Britain’s chavs, so that means ridiculous outfits, strange and funny jargon, and generally awesome antics.

Tonight’s party requires a Javad costume. See the party’s flyer for more info.