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.