We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mahdis Marzooghian. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mahdis below.

Mahdis, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

Of course! I recently published my debut novel, “Death Has None” (December 2023, Austin Macauley Publishers) and while it is a work of fiction, I wanted to write a book that not only portrayed the immigrant story in a very honest way, but also focused on the aspects of being Iranian that unite us and bring us together rather than on aspects that can mainly be a dividing force. Aspects like our rich culture, language, idioms and expressions that we’ve heard all our lives, our history — the facets of us that are the points of pride for every Iranian. They are topics we can, for the most part, all agree on, whether it’s Iranians still living in Iran or the Iranian diaspora living outside of Iran.

They are also the main themes at the center of this story; they are the glue that keeps the family in the story together as they grapple with a personal tragedy. In recent years, most of the books that have been published by Iranian authors, all of which are wonderful, wonderful works, have mainly focused on the Iranian Revolution, our conflict-ridden political history, and themes and topics that I feel divide us or create more controversy around what it is to be Iranian. I wanted to steer away from that, and while it’s also not something I am choosing to deny or edit away from the overarching Iranian identity, I intentionally chose to steer away from it in this book. Further, I was born in the post-Revolutionary era, then immigrated to the U.S. with my family when I was six years old and grew up here my whole life. The revolution and its aftermath did not immediately impact me, therefore I couldn’t tell a story about it in an honest, organic way because I didn’t directly experience it.

I believe this is a story that matters and needs to be told — it’s about the experience of being an immigrant; about what it is to be Persian; about stories and traditions and family; about the universal themes of death, loss, loyalty, cultural duality, and above all else — love.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sure! For as long as I can remember, I have loved to read. In grade school, I was always the girl who checked out over five books from the school library, stayed up until the wee morning hours reading in bed, and even read all of the books we were assigned in high school English. Naturally, my love for reading and literature inspired my love for writing. In fact, since the sixth grade, I knew I wanted to major in English/writing in college and have a career where I could do what I was passionate about — reading and writing. And that I did.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in English and my master’s degree in professional writing. Once I graduated, I taught English as an adjunct for about a year, but then decided to pursue a career that combined my passions of reading and writing: editing, so I worked my way from a press release editor to an assistant managing editor and finally to managing editor. I currently work as managing editor at a financial publishing company. In fact, I’d like to tell all those people who asked me in college, “What can you do with an English major?” that you can in fact do a lot — you can go into a field you previously knew very little about (finance, the stock market, investing) and actually become an expert in the field, so I guess the real question is, “What CAN’T you do with an English major?” But that’s only my day job. I am also co founder and editor-in-chief of an online literary magazine called “Five on the Fifth” (established in 2015), where we publish five nonfiction and fiction pieces on the fifth of every month (hence our name). As a writer myself, my goal with this magazine was to publish up and coming writers and to help get their work out there, as well as to send responses out promptly rather than have writers wait months for a reply, as is the case with a large number of literary magazines. And now, I can proudly add “published author” to my resume.

I write and publish as much as I can. Creative nonfiction is actually a genre I love and I have published several creative nonfiction pieces in various literary magazines and publications. The idea for my novel came to me sometime in 2017; I finished the novel in late 2018 and started sending out my manuscript to publishers between 2019 and 2020. Finally, in 2021, Austin Macauley reached out to me with an offer to publish my book. The themes that I mainly explore in my writing are the immigrant experience; what it means to be bicultural; what it means to be Persian, etc. and I really think that marginalized, minority writers have a responsibility to give a voice to their people and to portray their culture and the issues their people face in their writing. This contributes, in whatever small way, to the visibility and recognition of marginalized people that are oftentimes overlooked. That’s the thing that I’m most proud of and the main thing that I want readers to know about me and my current and future writing projects.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I want people to realize there is so much more to Persians/Iranians and our country of Iran than just the Revolution and over 40 years of political conflict, which is what’s solely covered in the media. I want to change that narrative. Every country in the world has been or currently is entrenched in political conflict, but why is the global spotlight always on Iran in regard to that, and oftentimes in a negative way?

I want the people of the world, especially those in Western countries, to learn about the richness of our culture, history, and language. For instance, when you mention Greece, most people immediately think of Ancient Greece, of beautiful architecture and art, of philosophy, and Socrates, and Homer. Not the country’s current political climate. However, when you mention Iran, people immediately think of the Revolution, the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini, the issue of hijab and Iran-U.S. relations, and so on. Not the Persian Empire, Cyrus the Great, and Hafez and Rumi. And while I don’t want to get too political, I realize this is all due to years of propaganda and media influence. However, I think as writers, creators, and artists, we have the responsibility, the opportunity, and the voice to change the narrative.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist/creative is being able to write about something that is my own personal experience, but to be able to portray it in a way that almost everyone can relate to, in one way or another. It’s being able to bring attention to issues and cultures and people that are marginalized and giving a voice and a representation to minority groups and as a marginalized, minority writer, I feel this sense of responsibility even more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mahdismarzooghian.ampbk.com/
• Instagram: @mahdiswriter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahdis.marzo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahdis-m-a5093361/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/fiveonthefifth
• Other: Youtube video link for book promo: https://youtu.be/TK94R7oBGTQ?si=KfSgOjOvOEXbx5nX