http://firoozehdumas.com This is the podcast of Firoozeh Dumas, best-selling author of \"Funny in Farsi\". Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:21:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I wish there had been wind when I went to Oklahoma last July. Thankfully, I missed the real heat wave. It was only 105 degrees. It had been 110 degrees the day before. But like all my travels, it wasn't the weather that left a lasting impression, but the people.  I ... http://firoozehdumas.com/oklahoma-where-the-wind-comes-sweepin-down-the-plain/ Last week, I was the speaker for the LaPidus Luncheon at the Council of Graduate Schools Annual Meeting in Arizona. I was a last minute replacement for another speaker who could not make it. This the first time I have ever replaced anyone with a 24-hour notice. We speakers are ... http://firoozehdumas.com/council-of-graduate-schools/ I'm getting ready to go to Williams College and Hilbert College. I'm excited for so many reasons...but get this, to go from Williamstown, MA to Hamburg, NY, I must travel by train.  Remember those Agatha Christie novels where Poirot travels by train? Well that's what I'm envisioning.  I have never ... http://firoozehdumas.com/choo-choo/ Since so many of you could not join me in Aspen this past summer, here's the next best thing: video links. To get you in the proper mood, you must envision beautiful green mountains, blue skies, crisp air and a whole bunch of physically fit people all around you. (There ... http://firoozehdumas.com/links-to-videos-from-aspen-summer-words-2011/ I don't normally respond to daily events on my website but the horrific events in Norway  have gotten me thinking...For those of you who have been listening to or reading the eloquent and thought provoking words of Jan Egeland, Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, ... http://firoozehdumas.com/lets-build-some-bridges/ I just returned from the Aspen Summer Words Literary Festival and to use a word that I normally try to avoid, it was AMAZING. First of all, how often do writers have a chance to meet other writers? Writing is a solitary pursuit. It's me, my computer and well, that's it.  ... http://firoozehdumas.com/aspen-summer-words-literary-festival/ If you are planning your summer vacation, and want to do something fun, memorable AND educational, join me June 19-24 for Aspen Summer Words. The theme this year is Middle East and there is an amazing line-up of writers participating. I will be interviewing my friend Khaled Hosseini or Mr. ... http://firoozehdumas.com/join-me-in-aspen-for-the-writers-conference/ No, this is not an April Fool's joke. Iranians just celebrated the new year and we're partying like it's 1390, because it is. Here's my NPR interview about the new year: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/18/134656808/Spring-Equinox-Signals-Persian-New-Year Also, April is National Poetry Month and NPR's Tell Me More asked its listeners to write poems on Twitter (140 ... http://firoozehdumas.com/happy-new-year-its-1390/ As most of you know from reading my Facebook page, I had a great time at the Munich International School.  I did, however, find myself in a state of panic meeting so many kids who spoke 3, 4 or 5 languages fluently. What advantages they will have in life! Do you ... http://firoozehdumas.com/more-thoughts-about-germany/ I just returned from a visit to the Munich International School, a true global village. It seemed like every staff member was from one country, married to somebody from another country, and they had lived in other countries.  Typical example: the American teacher, married to the Italian woman who had ... http://firoozehdumas.com/frau-dumas-says/