West Haven, Conn., March 26, 2007 - The University of New Haven (UNH) will host a lecture by Roya Hakakian, author of "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran" and winner of the 2006 Connecticut Book Award from the Connecticut Center for the Book. Hakakian is the Spring 2007 Bartels Fellow at the University of New Haven. The internationally-renowned writer, journalist, poet, and filmmaker will discuss the current situation in Iran and the Iranian revolution and read relevant passages from her memoir.
The Bartels Fellowship was established in 1989 at the University of New Haven through the generosity of Henry E. and Nancy H. Bartels. The Fellowship brings those of national stature and prominence in the fields of business or public service to the UNH campus, with a primary goal of broadening the horizons of students and faculty in these areas. Bartels Fellows visit classes, hold open discussions and deliver a formal address to University of New Haven community.
When: April 12, 2007, 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Where: Dodds Theater on the UNH campus
An accomplished poet writing in Persian, Roya Hakakian has had an eventful career. She has contributed columns and essays to such noteworthy publications as "The New York Times," the "Wall Street Journal" and the "Washington Post." She produced a documentary film, "Armed and Innocent," commissioned by the United Nations Children's Fund and released to widespread acclaim, about children drafted as soldiers in wars throughout the world. She has worked as a producer for CBS's "60 Minutes," and has been a contributor to National Public Radio's popular show, "All Things Considered." She has appeared on CSPAN-BOOK TV, CNN International, the CBS Early Show, and "Now with Bill Moyers." Although she has had many careers, all of them creative, she is most proud to call herself a writer. If there is sheer poetry to be found in contemporary prose, it is especially evident in Hakakian's "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran," her 2004 account of living and leaving her homeland of Iran. Hakakian was an Iranian Jew growing up during the Iranian Revolution, and despite her initial exuberance at the changes sweeping the country, the subsequent degradation of women and limits curtailing Jewish activity forced Hakakian and her family from Iran. They eventually found a new home in the United States in 1985.
The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, call 203-932-7121.
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