Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi

Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
Born1983 (age 41–42)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupationwriter
Education
Notable works
Notable awards
Website
azareenvandervlietoloomi.com

Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi (born 1983 in Los Angeles) is an Iranian American writer. She won the 2015 Whiting Award for Fiction and the 2019 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.

Early life and education

Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi was born in 1983,[1] in Los Angeles,[2] to an Iranian mother and British father.[3] She spent much of her childhood in Iran and Spain but also lived in the United States, Scotland, and the United Arab Emirates.[2] She studied Latin American studies and creative writing at the University of California, San Diego, then completed her Master of Fine Arts in fiction at Brown University.[4] She speaks four languages.[2]

Career

In 2012, Van der Vliet Oloomi published her first novel, Fra Keeler.

In 2015, she was honored as one of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35[5] and won the Whiting Award for Fiction.[6]

Her second book, the unconventional bildungsroman Call Me Zebra,[7] won the 2019 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction.[5] According to the judges, the novel "is a library within a library, a Borges-esque labyrinth of references from all cultures and all walks of life".[6] Call Me Zebra also received the John Gardner Award and was longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award.[5]

Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, Granta, Guernica, Bomb, Los Angeles Review of Books[5] and The New York Times, among others.[4] It has been translated into Italian, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, and Romanian.[8]

In addition to writing, Van der Vliet Oloomi is an associate professor of English at University of Notre Dame.[2][3] She also founded "Literatures of Annihilation, Exile & Resistance, a lecture series sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and the College of Arts and Letters at the University of Notre Dame that brings together Middle Eastern/Southwest Asian and North African writers and artists."[5]

Awards and honors

Van der Vliet Oloomi has received fellowships through the Fulbright Program, MacDowell, and Art Omi.[5][8]

In 2015, the National Book Foundation selected Van der Vliet Oloomi for their annual "5 Under 35" honor.[5][9]

Over twenty publications named Call Me Zebra one of the best books of 2019.[5]

Her short story "It Is What It Is" was included in The Best American Short Stories 2023.

Literary awards

Year Title Award Category Result Ref.
2015 — Whiting Award Fiction Won [10]
2019 Call Me Zebra John Gardner Fiction Book Award — Won
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction — Won [5][6][11]
PEN/Open Book Award — Longlisted [5]

Publications

  • Fra Keeler. Dorothy. 2012. ISBN 9780984469345.[12]
  • Call Me Zebra. Mariner Books. 2018. ISBN 9780544944602.[13][14][15][16][17]
  • Savage Tongues. Mariner Books. 2021. ISBN 9780358315063.[18][19][20][21]

References

  1. ^ "Van der Vliet Oloomi, Azareen". Virtual International Authority File. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Mazarei, Parisa (August 23, 2021). "Iranian Diaspora Spotlight: Iranian-American Author Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi— Writing Through and About the Complexities of Otherness". Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies. San Francisco State University. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Staples, Beth. "Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi". Department of English, University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on June 23, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Awards: Faulkner Winner; Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. April 30, 2019. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  7. ^ Kleeman, Alexandra (August 2, 2021). "Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi". BOMB Magazine. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi". Los Angeles Review of Books. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "National Book Foundation: '5 Under 35'". Shelf Awareness. October 1, 2015. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  10. ^ "Awards: Whiting; Baileys; Publishing Triangle; Australia Council". Shelf Awareness. March 10, 2015. Archived from the original on March 26, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
  11. ^ Merry, Stephanie (April 29, 2019). "Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomis's Call Me Zebra Wins PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  12. ^ "Fra Keeler by Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi". Publishers Weekly. August 27, 2012. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  13. ^ "Call Me Zebra". Kirkus Reviews. November 27, 2017. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  14. ^ Jacobs, Bruce (February 20, 2018). "Call Me Zebra". Shelf Awareness. Archived from the original on July 19, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  15. ^ "Call Me Zebra". Booklist. December 1, 2017. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  16. ^ "Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi". Publishers Weekly. November 20, 2017. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  17. ^ Galgan, Wendy (March 1, 2018). "Call Me Zebra". Library Journal. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  18. ^ Ahsan, Kamil (August 7, 2021). "A Novel That Invokes History — But Can't Quite Define It". NPR. Archived from the original on June 26, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  19. ^ "Savage Tongues". Kirkus Reviews. June 15, 2021. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  20. ^ "Savage Tongues by Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi". Publishers Weekly. May 24, 2021. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  21. ^ Akins, Ellen (August 9, 2021). "Review | In 'Savage Tongues,' a woman ponders a troubling relationship in her past". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.