Dina Nayeri
Dina Nayeri | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1979 Isfahan, Iran |
| Occupation | Author |
| Years active | 2013–present |
| Known for | Novels, essays, memoirs, and short stories |
| Notable work | A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea, Refuge, The Ungrateful Refugee, The Waiting Place, Who Gets Believed |
Dina Nayeri (born 1979) is an Iranian-American author known for her novels, essays, memoirs, and short stories. Her published works include the novels A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea (2014) and Refuge (2017), alongside nonfiction titles such as The Ungrateful Refugee (2019), The Waiting Place (2020), and Who Gets Believed (2023).
Early life and education
Nayeri was born in Isfahan, Iran, to a mother who practiced medicine and a father who was a dentist. In 1988, following her mother's conversion to Christianity and subsequent threats from the moral police, she left Iran with her mother and brother Daniel. The family spent two years seeking asylum in Dubai and Rome before ultimately relocating to Oklahoma in the United States. Her father remained in Iran.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University, as well as a Master of Education and an MBA from Harvard University. Additionally, Nayeri earned an MFA from the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Work
Nayeri’s first novel, A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea, was released in 2014 by Riverhead Books (Penguin) and has been translated into fourteen languages.
Refuge
Her sophomore novel, Refuge (2017), also published by Riverhead Books, draws heavily on autobiographical elements. The story shifts between Niloo Hamidi, an Iranian anthropologist teaching in Amsterdam, and her father Bahman Hamidi, a dentist residing in Isfahan. It delves into their intricate father-daughter relationship set against the backdrop of the European refugee crisis, with a focus on the Iranian diaspora in the Netherlands.
Niloo's departure from Iran with her mother and brothers contrasts with her father's decision to stay behind; he later marries twice more. The narrative opens with Bahman petitioning for divorce from his third wife. Niloo's sections are primarily written in third person, interspersed with first-person flashbacks.
Several aspects mirror Nayeri’s personal history, including Niloo’s interactions with her father, which Nayeri has also explored in an essay published in The New Yorker. Some character details differ; for instance, Niloo’s brother Kian is depicted as a chef rather than a businessman.
Personal life
Upon arriving in the United States, Nayeri experienced life as a refugee living in hostels for several years. She became a naturalized American citizen at age 15 in 1994 alongside her mother and brother. After graduating from Princeton University in 2001, she married French national Philip Viergutz in 2003. Professionally, she has held roles as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and later as a strategic manager at Saks Fifth Avenue. She lived for several years in Amsterdam with her husband.
Since 2015, Nayeri resided in London, but she currently lives in Scotland. She is divorced and has one daughter.
Novels and books
- A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea (2013)
- Refuge: A Novel (2017)
- The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You (2019)
- The Waiting Place: When Home Is Lost and a New One Not Yet Found (2020)
- Who Gets Believed: When the Truth Isn't Enough (2023)
Articles
- "The Ungrateful Refugee: 'We Have No Debt to Repay'". Published in The Guardian, April 2017
- "My Father, in Four Visits over Thirty Years". Featured in The New Yorker, June 2017
Awards and honors
- 2013 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program recipient for A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea
- 2015 O. Henry Prize awarded for "A Ride out of Phrao" published in Alaska Quarterly Review, volume 30, 2013
- 2016 Creative Writing Fellowship granted by the National Endowment for the Arts
- 2017 American Academy in Rome Prize finalist
- 2017 Included on the longlist for Tournament of Books with Refuge
- 2018 Named in Best American Short Stories for "A Big True" from The Southern Review
- 2018 Recipient of the UNESCO City of Literature Paul Engle Prize
- 2019 Fellowship at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination
- 2019 Finalist for the Kirkus Prize with The Ungrateful Refugee
- 2019 Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for The Ungrateful Refugee
- 2020 Elle Prix des Lectrices (France) finalist for The Ungrateful Refugee
- 2020 Awarded the Geschwister Scholl-Preis (Germany) for The Ungrateful Refugee
- 2020 Winner of the Clara Johnson Prize for The Ungrateful Refugee
- 2023 Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction with Who Gets Believed? When the Truth Isn’t Enough
External links
- Official website
- @DinaNayeri on Twitter
- Dina Nayeri on Facebook
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Iranian emigrants to the United States
- Harvard Business School alumni
- Princeton University alumni
- McKinsey & Company people
- American writers of Iranian descent
- 21st-century American novelists
- Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni
- 21st-century American women writers
- O. Henry Award winners