Faculty Associate
mehr[at]yorku.ca
Assistant Professor
Department of English, York University
Research Keywords:
Middle Eastern diasporic literature; war on terror
Research Region(s):
West Asia
Research Diaspora(s):
Asian Diaspora
My research is focused on Middle Eastern diasporic literature in the wake of the war on terror. I published my first monograph entitled: Women, Art, and Literature in the Iranian Diaspora in 2019, and I am now working on a second book project called “Refugee Literature: Dignity, Agency, & Voice in Iranian Exilic Life Writing.”
Like most research interests, my fascination with diaspora is autobiographic. I was born in Pakistan to Iranian parents who fled war, and grew up between Iran, Italy and Canada. This nomadic lifestyle led to my fluency in several languages. It also underscored the emancipatory power of art and literature in creating a collective for the displaced. In my research and my life, aesthetics and politics are intertwined.