Reza Jalali
Reza Jalali, recognized as one of the eminent ethnic Americans in Making it in America: a sourcebook on eminent ethnic Americans (©2001by Elliott Robert Barkan), is a Kurd from Iran. He is a human rights and Muslim scholar who has lived in Maine since 1985. As a writer, his essays, short stories, and commentaries have appeared in the local and international newspapers. As a member of Amnesty International USA Board of Directors, Jalali has led delegations to different refugee camps in Turkey and Bosnia. He has participated in numerous United Nations-sponsored international conferences in Korea, Japan, and Austria. In 1992, he visited the White House as part of a national delegation to discuss the plight of Kurdish refugees fleeing Iraq. Jalali is one of the contributing writers to Child Labor: A Global View (©2004, Greenwood Press), the multimedia production Middle East Suitcase Project (©2005, Center for Cultural Exchange), and The World of Child Labor: An Historical and Regional Survey (©2009, M.E. Sharpe Inc.) Jalali wrote the Foreword to New Mainers (©2009, Tilbury House, Publishers) a book on immigrant’s experiences in Maine. His first children book, Moon Watchers, published by Tilbury House, Publishers in June 2010, has received a Skipping Stones Honor Award for Multicultural Book. Jalali’s forthcoming book, God Speaks in Many Accents, is about the religions that Maine’s immigrants have brought with them to their new home in the U.S. His play, The Poets and the Assassin, which is about women in Iran, has been staged at Bates College, University of Southern Maine, and University of New England. Jalali has been included in 50 In 52 Journey, a national project to name “Americans who are problem-solvers, idea-generators in their communities, in their cities, and in their States and are moving America forward.”
Reza teaches at the Bangor Theological Seminary and is an adjunct faculty at the University of Southern Maine. He is the Muslim Chaplain at Bates College and coordinates the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at the University of Southern Maine.
About Reza Jalali's play, which will be performed at Bowdoin College on March 28th:
“A myth buster, the play unveils the complex and contradictory plight of Iranian women caught in the battle of traditionalism and modernity.”
The Poets and the Assassin, a five-act monologue about women in Iran, written by Reza Jalali and directed by Kati Vecsey, will be staged at the Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center, Bowdoin College in Brunswick on March 28, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. A reception with the playwright and the cast, including a book signing by Reza Jalali will follow. Free and open to the Public.
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