November 29, 2008
She was arrested, pushed to the ground, humiliated and taken
into custody for attending an anti-war rally? Did she do anything wrong?
Nothing. Was she given a phone call? No.
Sitting in silence, Goushegir’s audience listened intently
as she read from her one-act play, “My Name is Inanna,” a story not
uncommon to middle-eastern people living in the United States. This is one of
many stories, Iranian exile, playright, Ezzat Goushegir was born to tell.
Captive, her audience sits on stools, at the bar, even
cross-legged on the floor of the KGB Bar in Noho last night, silently watching
Goushegir reveal how a courageous Iranian woman’s sense of self is challenged
by American social standards and rules, in a prison and in a beauty
store. The mask that her character Inanna wears in the beauty store and in the
questioning room is the same, doing what she is told and trying not to cause
trouble. These scenes bring to mind the questions: how has Inanna’s life
changed in America? Does she truly have more freedom here? The irony of a
woman exiled from post-revolutionary Iran only to be arrested at an anti-war
demonstration is felt heavily in a room full of 1960’s activists, intellectuals
and fellow Iranian exiles. Goushegir goes on to account for the fears that
might infect someone’s mind as the clock ticks by and she waits and waits for
the police officer to return.
When asked during the question and answer session, Goushegir
admitted that the play was based on a compilation of stories from many
Iranian people and their experiences and perceptions as a foreigner living in
the United States. She said that most Iranians living in America fear being
imprisoned at one point in their lives.
Censorship is also a point of concern for both authors.
Rachlin, author of Persian Girls and the opening reader, discussed the
difficulty of getting her work read in Iran. She says that censorship of
anything immoral is strong right now. Both writers agreed that during the
Shah’s rule, there was also censorship but it was more about not discussing
anything negative about the government or how the country was run. Rachlin said
that made it impossible to share even the most basic realistic details of life
in Iran such as the cockroaches scurrying down the alley. Due to censorship and
other inequities in Iran, both authors touch on protests in America during the
1960s. One man commented that the Iranian students he knew in NYC opened his
eyes to the situation in Iran and difficulties people were facing there.
If you happen to be in Chicago and Goushegir is reading “My
Name is Inanna”, be sure to see her performance. It will leave you speechless.
There are no upcoming readings scheduled yet. Rachlin
Goushir is a playwright, short story writer, theatre critic
and poet. Her published work includes: The Woman, the ROOM, and Love
and … And suddenly the panther cried: WOMAN, collections of
short stories in Farsi; “The Sulking Sunflower”, Stylus, “Medea
was born in Fallujah”, Exile in America, Now Smile, Crawdad,
English translations of short stories for literary journals, Migration in
the Sun, a book of poetry, and Metamorphosis and Maryam’s
Pregnancy, Two plays, a book of plays. She has won a Richard
Maibaum award and a Norman Felton award for her plays. Goushegir is
currently a Creative Writing and Iranian Studies professor at DePaul
University in Chicago. She recently read “My Name is Inanna” at Women and
Theatre Program (WTP) Conference, Confronting the Silence: Building Bridges
of Engagement, in July 30, 2008 at El Centro Su Teatro in Denver-Colorado.
She also actively contributes to literary journals.
Rachlin, a novelist and short story writer, is well-known
for her memoir, Persian Girls and four novels, Jumping Over
the Fire, Foreigner, Married to a Stranger
and The Heart’s Desire. Rachlin is a winner of the Bennet Cerf
Award, PEN Syndicated Fiction Project Award, and a National Endowment for the
Arts grant. Her work has been published in Portuguese, Dutch, Italian, Farsi,
Arabic. Rachlin currently teaches at the New School University and Unterberg
Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y. She also is an Associate Fellow at Yale.
Aside: As I’m so close to the center of a major
metropolitan hub for writers and intellectuals, my plan is to try to attend a
reading or lecture a week so I can share news on great new authors
and people to watch in politics, business, art, etc. to my friends and
former colleagues throughout the world.
Comment from Joel Simpson: Thank you for this sensitive review of Ezzat Goushegir and Rachid Nachlin’s readings last month. It’s very gratifying to know that their respective messages were received and deeply appreciated.
Comment from Joel Simpson: Thank you for this sensitive review of Ezzat Goushegir and Rachid Nachlin’s readings last month. It’s very gratifying to know that their respective messages were received and deeply appreciated.
Posted in Books, Cross-Cultural
Relations, War/Conflict,
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Politics | Comments Off on Award-Winning Iranian Authors Read in
Noho, NYC
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