Parastoo [Review]
“Everywhere in this city is melancholy
And unsaid words, as if we are all
Always missing in somebody’s photograph”
Based between the cities colonially known as Edmonton and Montreal, Mahta Riazi’s first chapbook, Parastoo, translates from Farsi to English as “swallow”—a bird symbolizing hope and freedom in Iranian folklore. Through Parastoo, Riazi tells stories of migration, love, familial memory, and mis-memory—stories demarcated by class, citizenship, race, gender, and sexuality.
Published in Herizons Magazine (Spring 2023)