A RARE LOOK AT THE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE IN THE AMERICAN HEARTLAND
In this collection, Eyad Said and his young family must build a life together in the U.S. while contending with the horrors facing their people back in Syria. Palestinian American Dhuha Tawil grapples with her decision whether or not to wear the hijab. Shalini Jasti tries to balance her love of the English language with her mother’s desire to preserve her connection to their Indian culture and mother tongue. Vanessa “Cueponi Cihuatl” Espinoza tells of her first legal documents after crossing the Mexican–U.S. border as a child. In a moving letter to his parents, George Khal looks back on his life in Palestine, Egypt, and Iowa. Hibbah Jarmakani tells of her family’s struggle to create a new home in Iowa after leaving their generational home behind in Syria. After speaking truth to power as a journalist in Sudan, Salma Salama migrates to Cairo and then the United States, where she must start anew in her career, language, and community.
America is at a crossroads. In the great experiment of democracy, a defining moment has arrived. What kind of country do we want to be? These seven stories show us that the country is as complex as the people who live in it and that every resident plays a role in determining the America of tomorrow.
PRAISE FOR WE THE INTERWOVEN, VOLUME 3
“The writers capture the complexities of the entire human experience through the depths of the bicultural journey. There is pain and healing, war and peace, fighting and resting; there is something for everyone here.”
—Amal Kassir, Syrian American poet and storytelling activist
PRAISE FOR WE THE INTERWOVEN, VOLUME 2
“We the Interwoven is exactly the sort of antidote we need to the kind of othering that could lead to catastrophic future outcomes. It accomplishes the vital mission of humanizing issues that are all too often relegated to abstract or overly politicized realms.”
—Melissa Studdard, author of I Ate the Cosmos for Breakfast and host of VIDA Voices & Views
“We the Interwoven brings together different perspectives from marginalized communities whose voices we don’t often hear. It gives them a face and name and a voice. This work is significant and needed.”
—Ingrid Bejerman, Programming Associate, Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival
WE THE INTERWOVEN, VOLUME 2, introduces seven new voices—three fellows and four honorable mentions, all with stories that explore the theme of living between two worlds. Antonia Rivera crossed the Mexican-American border at the age of six, and her story spans three decades of the undocumented immigrant struggle. Dawson Davenport, a member of the Meskwaki Nation, shares a story of inherited Native trauma manifesting in the life of a young man coming of age. Ajla Dizdarević shares a Bosnian-American story of cultural tradition that survived a family’s migration. Hieu Pham explores Vietnamese-American filial debt, Rana Hewezi writes of an Egyptian mother’s gift to her daughter, Sarah Elgatian remembers her Armenian grandmother, and Anthony Mielke discovers his hidden Puerto Rican heritage. These seven stories take us on a ride through the heart and the moral conscience as they explore how we find identity and make a future in an America that is still deciding its own.
BE PART OF THE DISCUSSION
To foster conversations about We The Interwoven, Volume 2, we have created a free downloadable discussion guide.
This guide is meant to help readers start conversations about We the Interwoven, Volume 2, in order to better understand challenging issues and find ways toward a more connected tomorrow. We hope it will provide many ideas for discussing this groundbreaking work from bicultural writers in Iowa and the questions it raises about ourselves and America.
We would love to hear about your experience and share it with other readers. Simply click on the button below to submit some of the answers to your questions and a photo of your group.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:
"Iowans need to read these stories, and we're glad you're making it possible." —Mary W.
“I devoured it and enjoyed reading every part of it, including the foreword, artists' statements, bios, and glossary. It was quick to read but I spent almost as much time pausing and reflecting after each passage. Loved it.” —Bess L.
"This is the first time I've seen a story in print that represents me as a Mexican-American." —Serg G.
WE THE INTERWOVEN brings us the stories of three Americans—three Iowans—whose families have found home in the heartland over the past two generations. This collection brings together a variety of genres, including nonfiction, poetry, and fiction, to represent their unique experiences and amalgamation of influences, from the coast of Azerbaijan to the border towns of Mexico to the archipelago of the Philippines. These stories reflect who they were, who they are, and who they hope to become with the help of Iowa’s fields of opportunity. While the American Dream may bring to mind the quintessential white picket fence, the American experience is as unique as it is diverse.
