Salar Abdoh is a novelist, essayist, and translator, whose works offer a deep exploration of identity, displacement, war, and cultural conflict. Born in Tehran, Iran, Abdoh’s unique background as both an Iranian exile and an American resident informs much of his writing. His novels The Poet Game (2000), Opium (2004), Tehran at Twilight (2014), and A Nearby Country Called Love (2023), as well as his anthology Tehran Noir (2014), explore the interplay of East and West, particularly how these cultural realms shape individuals caught between two worlds. Abdoh’s writings are a testament to his ability to depict complex narratives that often reflect on themes of exile, alienation, and political conflict.
Early Life and Education
Born in Tehran, Iran, Salar Abdoh spent his early childhood in his home country, though he also spent a brief period living in England. At the age of fourteen, Abdoh’s family was forced to flee Homeland for the United States in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which dramatically changed the political landscape of the country. The experience of exile and the adjustment to life in a foreign land would become central themes in Abdoh’s later works.
Abdoh pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a degree in English literature. He later earned a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from the City College of New York (CUNY). Abdoh is currently a professor and the director of the graduate program in Creative Writing at the City College of New York, shaping the next generation of writers while continuing to hone his craft as a novelist and essayist.