I’ve loved Porochista Khakpour’s writing ever since I picked up her book Sons and Other Flammable Objects. I remember doing a double take when I saw her name—what a magnificent name! Weighty and kind of grand, just like mine. I’d never seen a name like mine on any book (outside of the Middle East History or Politics section) at my local bookstore. But this? This was a name like mine on a work of FICTION.

I devoured Sons and Other Flammable Objects and have loved reading Porochista ever since. Which is why I was so excited with she reached out to me on Twitter (it’s not a complete hellsite) to ask if I’d like to be in a convo with her about her new book, The Brown Album.

Originally, we were planning to hold this conversation at my beloved Powell’s City of Books in Portland, but due to COVID-19, we had to move the conversation to an online platform. Massive thanks are due to Town Hall Seattle for hosting our conversation, with many thanks to Candace and Josh for making sure we were set up and running!

Make sure to pick up a copy of Porochista’s The Brown Album when you have a chance. It’s a wonderful collection of her essays and is a wonderful read!

I had so much fun chatting with Porochista about her book. If you have an extra hour or so, give it a listen–she does a reading from her book, we talk some trash, and we also get real about growing up Iranian-American. My favorite part was definitely the audience questions!

Check out the conversation on Facebook or watch it on YouTube: