Nahid Rachlin Explained

Nahid Rachlin (born 1950) is an Iranian-American novelist and short story writer. She has been called "perhaps the most published Iranian author in the United States".^[1]

Life

Nahid Rachlin was born June 6, 1950, in Abadan, Iran, the eighth of ten children (2 of whom had died before her birth) to Manoochehr and Mohtaram Bozorgmehri. Brought up by her mother's older from when she was not yet one until she was nine years old when her father who had been a circuit judge resigned and started a private practice.^{[2] [3] [4]} She then lived with her parents, who were emotionally distant, under the shadow of restrictive gender expectations. Her closest family relationship was with an older sister, Pari. Pari underwent arranged marriage to a physically abusive older man, and then lost access to her son after she sued for divorce. Pari remarried, but suffered episodes of mental breakdown for which she was institutionalised, and died young after a home accident.^[3]

Rachlin emigrated to the United States when she was 17, gaining a BA at Lindenwood College. She married Howard Rachlin, a psychology professor, and in 1969 became a naturalized US citizen. They had a daughter named Leila.^[5] In the early 1970s she pursued graduate study in creative writing, writing short stories for a class with Richard Humphries at Columbia University, and for a class with Donald Barthelme at City College of New York. These stories won her the Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University. In 1976 Rachlin returned to Iran for the first time in twelve years, drawing on the experience for her debut novel Foreigner.^[3]

Works

• Foreigner. New York: Norton, 1978.^[6]
• Married to a stranger. New York : Dutton, 1983.^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}
• Veils: short stories. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1992.^{[12] [13] [14] [15] [16]}
• The heart's desire: a novel. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1995.^{[17] [18]}
• Jumping over fire. San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2005.^{[19] [20] [21] [22] [23]}
• Persian girls: a memoir. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2006.^[24]
• A way home: stories. Edmonds, Washington: Ravenna Press, 2018.

Further reading

• Thomas Filbin. Literary Review. The Expatriate Memory: Four Iranian Writers in America. 40. 1. Fall 1996. 172–177.

External links

• nahidrachlin.com
• Interview with Nahid Rachlin
• Talking with a Pioneer of Iranian-American Literature: An Interview with Nahid Rachlin conducted by Persis Karim at ArteEast, Summer 2007

Notes and References

1. Book: Contemporary authors new revision series. Volume 120 : bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields . . 2004 . 0-7876-6712-9 . Peacock . Scot . Detroit . 327–9 . Rachlin, Nahid 1944- . November 12, 2023 . https://archive.org/details/contemporaryauth0120unse/page/326/mode/2up . registration . Internet Archive.
2. Book: Sturr . Asian American Short Story Writers: An A-to-Z Guide . . 2003 . 0-313-32229-5 . Huang . Guiyou . Westport, CT . 257–262 . Nachlin Rachlin (1947–) . November 12, 2023 . https://archive.org/details/asianamericansho0000unse/page/256/mode/2up . registration . Internet Archive.
3. Book: Sharma . Asian American Novelists: A Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook . . 2000 . 0-313-30911-6 . Nelson . Emmanuel S[ampath] . Westport, CT . 296–7 . Nahid Rachlin (1947 . November 12, 2023 . https://archive.org/details/asianamericannov00nels_0/page/296/mode/2up . registration . Internet Archive.
4. Book: Fister, Barbara . Barbara Fister

   . Third World Women's Literatures: A Dictionary and Guide to Materials in English . . 1995 . 0-313-28988-3 . Westport, CT . 254 . Rachlin, Nahid . https://archive.org/details/thirdworldwomens0000fist/page/254/mode/2up . . Barbara Fister.

5. Killeen . Peter . Green . Leonard . Neuringer . Allen . Allen Neuringer . November 2021 . Howard Rachlin (1935-2021) . . 76 . 8 . 1349 . 10.1037/amp0000908 . 1935-990X . 35113601. 246529860 .
6. Reviewed by Anne Tyler, The New York Times Book Review, February 18, 1979, p.3.
7. Reviewed, Publishers Weekly, July 22, 1983, p.118
8. Reviewed by Carolyn See, Los Angeles Times, September 16, 1983, p.20.
9. Reviewed by Barbara Thompson, The New York Times Book Review, October 2, 1983, p.14.
10. Reviewed, Publishers Weekly, May 31, 1993, p.47
11. Reviewed by Saïdeh Pakravan, Belles Lettres, Spring 1994, p.53
12. Reviewed, Publishers Weekly, April 20, 1992, p.19.
13. Reviewed by Charles Solomon, Los Angeles Times Book Review, May 20, 1992, p.18.
14. Reviewed by Marilyn Booth, Belles Lettres, Fall, 1992, p.52.
15. Reviewed by Laurel Graeber, The New York Times Book Review, November 29, 1992, p.18.
16. Reviewed by Carolyne Wright, Harvard Review, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring 1993), p.1-2.
17. Reviewed, Publishers Weekly, October 2, 1995, p.66.
18. Reviewed by Nasrin Rahimieh, World Literature Today, Spring 1996, p.463.
19. Reviewed, Publishers Weekly, January 23, 2006, p.186.
20. Reviewed by Donna Chavez, Booklist, March 1, 2006, p.67
21. Reviewed by Michael Upchurch, The Seattle Times, July 21, 2006, p.137.
22. Reviewed by Christine C. Menefee, School Library Journal, August 2006, p.145.
23. Reviewed by Aména Moïnfar, MELUS, Summer 2008, p.181
24. Reviewed, Publishers Weekly, August 7, 2006, p.45.