In a new series, I interview artists about how they cope with rejection. Ten questions with vulnerable, revelatory answers about something they is often a huge part of our lives and artistic practices. open.substack.com/pub/inalette...

A sort of writing craft essay walking you through how I wrote my current piece in Harper’s Bazaar. open.substack.com/pub/inalette...

New essay in @harpersbazaar.com.web.brid.gy about this intense political moment in Iran (and the US) in which I attempt to understand my own numbness. www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/feat...

I didn’t realize this would hit so hard but my post on how to leave Spotify has gone viral on Instagram and hundreds of people have replied saying they did it! It’s truly a painless process. Thinking about doing it is more arduous than doing it.

Got to meet the only person giving me hope these days @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social and feel so privileged to get to support his campaign for mayor. Please get out there volunteer for him and tell everyone you know to show up and vote for this historic candidate.

All Senator Padilla wanted was to do his job and get the questions his constituents had answered — instead, he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed. This is Donald Trump's America, where they attack our freedoms. We cannot be intimidated or scared by their abuses of power.

Wrote an essay about exile, on the 36th anniversary of leaving Iran, and as I consider my future in this country... inaletter.substack.com/p/exile-is-a...

Israeli strikes killed dozens of Palestinians in northern Gaza overnight, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday, as Israel threatens to ramp up its military campaign in the enclave despite mounting international pressure.

Using AI to write papers is like bringing a forklift to the gym.

This will sound weird but love yourself enough to write your own term papers.

I wrote about my resistance to leave home and my first few days at The Edward Albee Foundation where I’m a writing fellow and where other writers, like @alexanderchee.bsky.social are sending me messages through their books. Very big vibes here. open.substack.com/pub/inalette...

I’m headed to the Edward Albee Foundation for a residency and feeling immensely grateful to him for creating this invaluable opportunity. I can’t wait to be in the house he and his partner shared for so many years. Hoping his spirit will move my pen, if it’s not too much to ask ;)

Our Friday newsletter: How do you define journalism? Plus: Mary Schmich revisits Studs Terkel's "Division Street," Livingston Award finalists, @michaelngraff.bsky.social's stories about Charlotte, and @nazriahi.bsky.social's ode to rejection. niemanstoryboard.org/2025/04/25/w... #storytelling

I know we all feel some way about rejection, but I'm surprised and delighted by all the responses to this short essay on my own experiences with rejection as an artist and writer and how I cope. Thanks to everyone reading, engaging with and sharing this. inaletter.substack.com/p/so-difficu...

Love this ode to rejection by the great @nazriahi.bsky.social. inaletter.substack.com/p/so-difficu... #writing #booksky

If you read one thing today…this week…this month…let it be this extraordinary and essential essay by Kaveh Akbar in @thenation.com www.thenation.com/article/acti...

“We are now in the second decade of a years-long temper tantrum sparked by the election of Barack Obama—not to mention the failed attempts to elect a woman to succeed him...” @adamserwer.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Tyranny requires your fear, your silence, and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage.

My mother and brother are finally vindicated.

I have a short story, The Desert, in the new issue of A Public Space, which is extra thrilling as I’ve loved the journal and wanted to be published by them since their inception. Keywords for this story: mothers and daughters, oy. Mickalene Thomas. Wanda. Pippa Bacca. Gay gay gay. Coyotes. Desert.

Wrote about two moments I’ve experienced when life was most present and disappearing simultaneously. It was a week. And just the start. inaletter.substack.com/p/disappeari...

Going to de-activate Twitter, but don’t want anyone to ever forget my greatest accomplishment so far was taking this picture.

Weird to be away from home at this time but also immensely grateful to the Jan Michalski Foundation. Escaping to Switzerland for this writing residency couldn’t have come at a better time.

There are 4 spots left in my very fun essay class. All levels welcome. We work with prompts and deadlines to get writing, while talking about craft and building a community. Info and sign up: nazriahi.com/classes

I made a list of the best things I read, watched and saw this year. Books, essays, stories, poems, films, performances, art and tv. Let me know your favorites. inaletter.substack.com/p/a-list-of

Fifty-one of women's worst nightmares are going to prison. Countless other nightmares remain at large. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

An epic year-end reading (and watching and listening) list from @nazriahi.bsky.social #longreads inaletter.substack.com/p/a-list-of

Sharing this podcast episode here because I’m proud of it, the song is great, and the whole SongWriter series is such a great listen: https://songwriterpodcast.com/laurie-woolever-mike-ruffino

LA friends, I’m performing an original piece of writing at MOCA (Museum of Comtrmporary Art Los Angeles) next Thursday. You can RSVP at the link and I’d love to see you there. Hopefully there’ll be some laughs and maybe other emotions, too. https://www.moca.org/program/sorority-not-me

My dog is dreaming next to me in bed and I'm writing a short story for my collection, even though I'd rather be watching reality tv. Seems as good a start as any to this app.

"I was raised with drag, by drag. We all were." A new essay by @alexanderchee.bsky.social: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a44302639/drag-queens-fight/

The ruling today points to the radicalism of this particular Supreme Court and some of the most absurdist views that have been passed off as reasonable. None of this is new or surprising but it is worth thinking about how some of this may play out.

On the end of affirmative action. "almost from the outset, critics of the policy could be seen impatiently tapping their watches, questioning how long (white) society was meant to endure the patent unfairness of these racial considerations." @jelaniya.bsky.social

I respect that the vibe on here isn’t really “let’s talk about babies and the endless kobayashi-maru of being a female parent,” but also hey I wrote a super long Instagram caption about the goddamn miracle of feeding my baby formula https://www.instagram.com/p/CuFad0_gT-V/?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA==