Mojdeh Marashi is a San Francisco Bay Area writer and visual artist.
Her work is deeply influenced by the ancient and modern history of Iran, where she grew up and published her first short story in Today Woman (1977), while still a teenager.
Mojdeh earned an MA in Interdisciplinary Arts in 2002 and a Master’s in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University in 2011.
She is the translator (from Persian, with Chad Sweeney) of The Selected Poems of H. E. Sayeh: The Art of Stepping Through Time (White Pine, 2011). Some of the poems in this book have also appeared in Crazyhorse, Indiana Review, Poetry International, American Letters & Commentary, Seattle Review, Subtropics, Washington Square, and The Forbidden: Poems From Iran And Exiles (Michigan State University Press).
Mojdeh’s fiction was published in the anthology Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been: Women of the Iranian Diaspora(University of Arkansas Press, 2006).
Her storytelling work explores themes of transformation, love, feminism, and the supernatural — weaving new narratives inspired by Iranian folklore, mythology, and timeless oral traditions.
A New Chapter is Coming
This site will soon open its pages to a growing collection of stories — reimagined and rooted in the rich soil of Persian folklore, oral tradition, and the unseen worlds between past and present.
These are stories of strong heroines, quiet magic, and enduring love.
Stories that carry old wisdom into new light.
Stories that are not merely told, but felt.
Come back soon. The doors will open.
Make the invisible visible.
Make the visible something we feel.
Selected Publications & Contributions
Books & Anthologies
The Forbidden: Poems From Iran And Exiles
Edited by Sholeh Wolpé
Michigan State University Press
Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been: Women of the Iranian Diaspora
Edited by Persis M. Karim
University of Arkansas Press, 2006
Essential Voices: Poetry of Iran and Its Diaspora
Selected Poetry Translations
Other appearances:
Indiana Review, Poetry International, American Letters & Commentary, Seattle Review, Washington Square
Selected Reviews & Mentions
Selected Readings & Events
(Partial list — more forthcoming)
Essential Voices / Iranian Diaspora Poetry Readings
Diaspora Arts Connection & San Francisco State University Poetry Center
American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) Annual Conference
Presenter / Panelist — “It’s No Pun Anymore: The Loss of Wit & Other Cultural Misunderstandings in Persian Verse Translation”
ALTA 2012, Rochester, NY
Reading at San Mateo Public Library
San Mateo, CA — September 16
A New Cadence Poetry Series
Felix Kulpa Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA — March 24
Poetry & Peace
Saratoga Library, Saratoga, CA — February 26