NYC Literary and Culinary Arts Festival Highlights Iranian-American Experience

Mehregan is a new Iranian-American literary and culinary arts festival celebrating the ancient Iranian holiday marking the coming of Fall. This first annual New York City-based festival will take place Saturday, October 25, 2014 (3pm – 9pm) at Cafe Nadery in Greenwich Village.

Mehregan honors the change of seasons with a day of events by prominent Iranian-American writers, foodies, and musicians. Authors featured include Tara Bahrampour (Washington Post journalist and author of the memoir To See and See Again), Roger Sedarat (poet and author of Dear Regime: Letters to the Islamic Republic), Amir Parsa (author of Divan and Open Epic) and Sara Goudarzi (poetry featured in Taos Journal of International Poetry, Drunken Boat, and The Adirondack Review). Journalist and food writer Leila Darabi (Tehran Bureau, everydaytrash.com) will read and invite participants to be interviewed about their experiences with Iranian cooking.

The festival offers a new take on contemporary Iranian-American culture with personal stories of coming of age, identity, family, nostalgia, and who makes the best tahdig (crunchy rice).

Mehregan will also feature videos of shows from the golden age of Iranian TV, a Pomegranate Peel-Off challenging participants to take apart the convoluted fruit for prizes, and a special performance of Iranian pop/funk hits from the 60s and 70s by members of the Farsi-funk music group, Mitra Sumara.

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NYC Literary and Culinary Arts Festival Highlights Iranian-American Experience