Talking Through the Door

The writers included here are descendants of multiple cultural heritages

and reflect the perspectives of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds:

Egyptian, Iranian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Lebanese, Libyan, Palestinian, Syrian.

They are from diverse socioeconomic classes and spiritual sensibilities:

Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and atheist, among others. Yet they coexist in

this volume as simply American voices.

Atefat-Peckham gathered poetry and prose from sixteen accomplished

writers whose works concern a variety of themes: from the familial cross

cultural misunderstandings and conflicts in the works of Iranian American

writers Nahid Rachlin and Roger Sedarat to the mysticism of Khaled Mattawa

s poems; from the superstitions that govern characters in Diana Abu-

Jaber s prose to the devastating homesickness in Pauline Kaldas s characters.

Filled with emotion and keen observations, this collection showcases

these writers vital contributions to contemporary American literature."