Marjan Kamali
Fannie Hurst Writer in Residence
Marjan Kamali is the author of three novels, including The Stationery Shop (2019) — a national and international bestseller translated into 21 languages — Together Tea (2013) — a Massachusetts Book Award Finalist translated into 9 languages — and The Lion Women of Tehran (2024), which comes out on July 2nd.
Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, Marjan spent her childhood in Kenya, Germany, Turkey, Iran, and the United States. She received her degree in English literature from UC Berkeley, her Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from New York University. She is the 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Award.
Listen to an interview with the National Endowment of the Arts about Marjan’s work.
Publications
- The Lion Women of Tehran (novel), Gallery/Simon&Schuster, 2024
- "Mina vs. Saddam" (short piece), Evergreen Review, 2023
- "Refuge, Gossip, and Revelation on the Private Book Club Circuit" (essay), Literary Hub, 2020
- The Stationery Shop (novel), Gallery/Simon&Schuster, 2019
- Together Tea (novel), Ecco/HarperCollins, 2013
- “Tehran Party” short story in the anthology Tremors: New Fiction by Iranian American Writers, The University of Arkansas Press, 2013
- “In Iran, Among the Beauty-Obsessed Women,” The Wall Street Journal, 2013
- “Immigrant Worries: On the New World Novels of Dina Nayeri and Jessica Soffer,” The Los Angeles Review of Books, 2013
- “The Gift,” short story in the anthology Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora, The University of Arkansas Press, 2006
Awards
- National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship 2022
- Harvard University Iranian Gala Honoree
- Prix Attitude in France for The Stationery Shop 2021
- NPR Best Books of 2019
- Indie Next Pick 2019
- Pushcart Prize Nominee, Solstice Literary Magazine, 2018