Writer Angella Nazarian Speaks at the HRC Tonight

Image from John Collazos

Angella Nazarian at the HRC
Tuesday, February 20
Harry Ransom Center (21st & Guadalupe)
Free, 7pm
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At age eleven, Angella Nazarian was in exile. Having fled Iran during the revolution of 1979, Nazarian arrived in Beverly Hills (of all places) with understandably complex feelings about identity and culture.

Tonight at the Harry Ransom Center, Nazarian will talk about that journey and Life As a Visitor, the book it inspired her to write. Regarding the political subtext of her journey away from Iran, Nazarian writes: "Many Iranian Jews did as my family did at the start of the Islamic Revolution in 1979—they fled the country, leaving their belongings and loved ones behind in a matter of days or at the most a couple of months. So tales of displacement, loss, and revolution, as personal as they may be, are embedded in the larger arena of world politics. Now once again, I see images of uprisings, protests, and violence coming out of Iran, and I am reminded of what I witnessed as a child. But this time instead of fear, I am feeling a renewed sense of hope."

Nazarian is also a contributor to The Huffington Post, amongst other publications. For those not able to attend, the event will be webcast live right here.