Persis Karim

• Name — Persis Karim • Birth Name — Persis Maryam Karim • Born — 1962 • Birthplace — Walnut Creek, California, U.S. • Education — University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Texas at Austin • Occupation — Poet, editor, educator • Known for — Iranian Diaspora Studies, Iranian American Studies • Website — http: persiskarim.com/

Persis Maryam Karim was born in 1962 in Walnut Creek, California. Her father was an Iranian, born in Paris; her mother was French and had immigrated from Dijon, France. She was the youngest child in her family (with six siblings and two half siblings), and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Karim attended the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA 1985), and University of Texas at Austin (PhD 1998, comparative literature). She had studied under poet Al Young. Karim is known for editing anthologies and sharing the stories of Iranian-Americans, including A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans (1999) and Tremors: New Fiction by Iranian American Writers (2013). From 1999 until 2017, Karim worked at San José State University, where she was a co-director of its Persian Studies Program. Karim and Soumyaa K. Behrnes co-directed the documentary film The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life (2024), which follows the Iranian diaspora community in the San Francisco Bay Area from the 1950s until present day. The Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies is scheduled to close in 2025.

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