Layli Shirani
Fairfax, CA
Nonfiction
Straddling nationalities, borders and faiths, Layli Shirani is an Iranian-American writer of Muslim and Bahái origins, at work on a hybrid memoir in lyric essays and lyrical fragments exploring revolution, disillusionment, war, political and religious persecution and violence, immigration, prolonged separation and the epigenetics of loss in the long wake of exile.
She is a 2023 Pen America Emerging Voices Fellow, a 2023 Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow, and a 2024 VCCA 50th Anniversary Fellow. Mentored by Vauhini Vara of the Book Project, her work has been supported by River Teeth Journal, Tin House Summer Workshop and the Ragdale Foundation.
Layli lives in Fairfax, California, with her family.