7th Annual Envision Access Conference (Virtual)
Mar
3
12:00 PM12:00

7th Annual Envision Access Conference (Virtual)

UPDATE: Address now available on YouTube

The Envision Access Conference is an opportunity for members of the Tri-State to increase awareness and understanding of trends in addressing the needs of students with disabilities.

There is no cost to attend, but registration is required.

Conference Expectations and Goals:

  • Create a networking event that helps to foster working relationships between guidance counselors, interventions specialists, and higher education accessibility/disability services administrators

  • Accessing and embracing the use of technology.

  • Learn best practices related to students with disabilities.

  • Develop community connections to increase educational attainment for students with disabilities.

Who Should Attend:

  • Guidance counselors, Intervention specialists and Enrollment services

  • Parents of students with disabilities

  • Educators and Administrators

  • Higher Education Professionals

  • Human Resource Professionals

  • Community Leaders, Business Owners and Non-Profit Executives

  • Health Care & Social Services Professionals

  • Hospitality

  • Students (Secondary & Post-Secondary)

  • Government

View Event →
Saint Mary's College of CA, Center for Women & Gender Equity: Truth as Activism Talk
Mar
12
8:30 AM08:30

Saint Mary's College of CA, Center for Women & Gender Equity: Truth as Activism Talk

TRUTH AS ACTIVISM- MELODY MEOZZI (IRANIAN- AMERICAN- MUSLIM AUTHOR,SPEAKER, AND ACTIVIST

MARCH 2, 2022 @5PM

Come Join us via Zoom to talk about how to be an activist and ow Melody Moezzi discovered her passion through her books. 

Link to event: https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/womens-resource-center/events

View Event →
Race in America: Reckonings & Restoration in the Post-Tr*#p Era (A Book Pasage Online Event)
Mar
21
7:00 PM19:00

Race in America: Reckonings & Restoration in the Post-Tr*#p Era (A Book Pasage Online Event)

UPDATE: Watch the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C89Gk0PA-nk&t=87s

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s presidency, imbued with racist rhetoric and anti-immigrant legislation, we are still whirling. Additionally, we continue to grapple with the impact of the pandemic, the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests. Although we have a new presidential administration, there is much to reflect upon and reckon with. For the 3rd Annual Race in America special panel event, we will look at both past mistakes and lessons learned, considering our country's persistent issues and the work that still lies before us.

Our conversation will do so with the strength of an impressive all-female panel of changemakers in honor of Women’s History Month:

May-lee Chai is the author of ten books, including the collection of short stories, Useful Phrase for Immigrants; and three novels, My Lucky Face, Dragon Chica, and Tiger Girl. May-lee is a writer and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship; and the 2014 APALA (Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association) Literature Award. She is an Associate Professor for Creative Writing Dept. at SF State University.

Myriam Gurba is a writer, story-teller, and visual artist. She is best known for her review in Tropics of Meta of American Dirt. In 2019, O, The Oprah Magazine called Gurba's work Mean one of the "Best LGBTQ Books of All Time”. Mean is a true crime, memoir, and ghost story, as well as the bold and hilarious tale of Myriam Gurba’s coming of age as a queer, mixed-race Chicana. Blending radical formal fluidity and caustic humor, Gurba takes on sexual violence, small towns, and race, turning what might be tragic into piercing, revealing comedy.

Nia McAllister is a poet, writer, and environmental justice advocate working at the intersection of art, activism, and public engagement. As the Public Programs Manager and Book-Buyer at The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco, Nia strives to create participatory spaces for creative expression and literary dialogue. She is the host and founder of the Open Mic series at MoAD and has committed herself to creating platforms for amplifying the work of Black artists on a global scale. Nia's poetry has been featured on Poets of Color Podcast, Nomadic Press Dial-A-Poet Series, and in forthcoming publications.

Melody Moezzi is an Iranian-American Muslim author, attorney, activist, and visiting associate professor of creative writing at UNCW. She is the author of Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life, War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims, and most recently, The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life. Moezzi’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and many other outlets. You can follow her on Twitter at @MelodyMoezzi and on Instagram at @Melody.Moezzi.

Heading things up is Book Passage's Buyer and Events Host, Paula Farmer. In addition to curating and moderating the special Book Passage panel events for social discourse and change, Paula is a features writer, and hosts “Speaking Of,” an interview series on Instagram in which she regularly talks with BIPOC authors, artists, and activists on topical issues. She is the Chairperson of the Diversity and Inclusion subcommittee of CALIBA and was recently selected for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee for the American Booksellers Association.

View Event →
RumiRx Book Talk with Emory University's Michael C. Carolos Museum
Mar
16
7:00 PM19:00

RumiRx Book Talk with Emory University's Michael C. Carolos Museum

Complete book talk with Q&A: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbk66htE_-c&t=1s

The poems of the 13th-century Persian poet known simply as Rumi have been described as ecstatic, mystical, and devotional. To author, lawyer, activist, and Emory alumna (06L, 06PH) Melody Moezzi, they became a lifeline. Her father, a physician, used to leave Rumi’s poems around the house for her, written on pages from his prescription pad, but it wasn’t until she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder that she realized how the words of the poet could help her face the fear, isolation, depression, and distraction she faced each day.

Join Moezzi for a discussion of her memoir, The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life.

View Event →
A Book Talk on "The Rumi Prescreption": The Healing Power of Rumi’s Poetry
Dec
2
6:45 PM18:45

A Book Talk on "The Rumi Prescreption": The Healing Power of Rumi’s Poetry

Free and Open to the Public. This lecture and conversation will be conducted primarily in English, though it will also include Farsi. Cosponsored by the Duke University Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC); Duke Islamic Studies Center (DISC); Persian Studies Program at UNC Chapel Hill Event hosted by Graduate Student Association of Iranians at Duke (GSAID) & Iranian Cultural Society of NC (ICSNC).

Event link: http://calendar.duke.edu/show?fq=id%3ACAL-2c918084-75f8bcde-0176-1b784217-00007270demobedework%40mysite.edu

Meeting ID: 95827839719

6:45 - 7:00 Social

7:00 - 7:10 Introduction

7:10 - 7:45 Lecture

7:45 - 8:45 Q&A, Poetry & Free Discussion

View Event →
Prairie Lights
Jun
30
7:00 PM19:00

Prairie Lights

Alyson McGregor, M.D. and Melody Moezzi

June 30, 2020 - 7:00pm

Prairie Lights Virtual - Zoom

Please join us for a dialogue on medicine and gender, featuring Dr. Alyson J McGregor, author of Sex Matters, and Melody Moezzi, author of The Rumi Prescription. For the link to access the event, register here.

Alyson J. McGregor, M.D. is a women's health pioneer who has brought the concept of sex and gender differences in the delivery of acute medical care to the national scale. She is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Co-Founder and Director for the Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine at Brown University's Department of Emergency Medicine. Dr. McGregor is also a Co-Founder for the national organization Sex and Gender Women's Health Collaborative. She has written or co-written over sixty peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals on the topic of sex and gender, and she is the lead editor for the medical textbook, Sex and Gender in Acute Care Medicine. Her new book, Sex Matters: How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women's Health and What We Can Do About It, is an informative and prescriptive guide for women to learn about their unique bodies, the challenges they face in our male-centric medical system, and the steps they can take right now to begin to reduce their personal risk factors and make grass-roots changes in their local medical communities

Melody Moezzi, an activist, attorney, professor, and award-winning author. Her new book The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life has been called “a heartening narrative of family, transformation, and courage” that “could shatter a variety of prejudices and stereotypes.” by Kirkus Reviews. Her other books include the critically acclaimed memoir Haldol and the Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life and War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims, which earned her a Georgia Author of the Year Award. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, The Guardian, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, Al Arabiya, and The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, among others. She has appeared on CNN, BBC, NPR, HLN, PBS, CSPAN, PRI, Air America and many other radio and television programs, providing commentary on issues ranging from mental health to Iran to feminism to Islam in America and beyond. She is a visiting professor of creative nonfiction at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and an experienced keynote speaker on a variety of issues—most notably mental health, wellness, inclusion, writing, and activism, especially surrounding Islamophobia, Iranian-American relations, and disability rights.

To order their books for curbside pickup, free local delivery, or media mail shipping, find them in our online shop (McGregor) (Moezzi) or give us a call at 319-337-2681.

View Event →
Elementa: Meet the Author
Jun
7
3:00 PM15:00

Elementa: Meet the Author

Let’s talk mental health and wellness.

Meet author Melody Moezzi, author of several books including, “The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life.” Kirkus calls her latest book “a heartening narrative of family, transformation, and courage” that “could shatter a variety of prejudices and stereotypes.”

We bring you courageous authors who can engage us in the hard conversations. In addition to learning about Melody’s book, we’ll talk about our minds, our sanity, and our complicated paths to wellness.

————————-

About Elementa:

As people begin to better understand that cannabis is a medicinal plant – and as more states legalize its use – many women are asking: “Is cannabis right for me, for my loved ones, for my partner?”

Ellementa is a global wellness company educating women about plant medicine, including cannabis and CBD, and guiding them to quality products from trusted brands that want to reach them.

We’re a women-owned company formed to connect women with trusted information, supportive community, and reliable resources focused on the health and wellness benefits of cannabis. We guide women on how to integrate cannabis legally, safely, and discreetly into their lives and introduce them to experts as well as brands with quality products and services to serve them.

We bring together diverse women with different levels of experience with cannabis – from the long-time consumer to the curious and exploring, from the medical user to the woman looking for a natural way to unwind at the end of the day. We connect women with trusted experts and brands so they can make educated decisions about the products and services they purchase on their cannabis journey.

View Event →
#RumiRX Book Quarantour: California Institute of Integral Studies (San Francisco, CA)
May
20
7:00 PM19:00

#RumiRX Book Quarantour: California Institute of Integral Studies (San Francisco, CA)

  • California Institute for Integral Studies (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

“Quit being a drop. Make yourself an ocean.” Rumi’s inspiring and deceptively simple poems have been called ecstatic, mystical, and devotional. For writer and activist Melody Moezzi, they became her lifeline.

With the help of her father, who is a lifelong fan of Rumi’s poetry, she immersed herself in Rumi’s rich body of work, and discovered a 13th-century prescription for modern life. Melody’s latest book, The Rumi Prescription, follows her path of discovery as she translates Rumi’s works for herself, gaining wisdom and insight in the face of a creative and spiritual roadblock.

Melody addresses isolation, distraction, depression, fear, and many other everyday challenges we face—arguing that Rumi provides a roadmap for living with intention and ease, embracing love at every turn—despite the divided and chaotic times we live in. By following her journey translating Rumi’s works, Melody provides us a vivid reminder that we already have the answers we seek, if we can just slow down to honor them.

Join Professor and Co-Chair of CIIS’ Expressive Arts Therapy Program Shoshana Simons for a conversation with Melody about her life and how the wisdom she found exploring Rumi can help us make sense of our modern lives.

Please note that this talk will be hosted live online. Instructions on how to join the webinar will be included in your event confirmation email. If you need additional assistance finding or joining the event, please email publicprograms@ciis.edu.

View Event →
At Home with Literati: Melody Moezzi & Ellen Forney
May
18
7:00 PM19:00

At Home with Literati: Melody Moezzi & Ellen Forney

We're pleased to welcome Melody Moezzi to our “At Home with Literati Series” and in support of The Rumi Prescription, in conversation with author and illustrator Ellen Forney.

Note: Meetings are now automatically password protected with wait rooms enabled. The password is entered automatically by clicking the link if you are logged into a Zoom account. We will let guests in off the waiting list shortly after 7 and throughout the event. If you join late, hang in there, we'll let you in when we see you. 

Enjoying At Home with Literati? Consider donating

About The Rumi Prescription

A powerful personal journey to find meaning and life lessons in the words of a wildly popular 13th century poet. Addressing isolation, distraction, depression, fear, and other everyday challenges we face, the book offers a roadmap for living with intention and ease, and embracing love at every turn--despite our deeply divided and chaotic times. Most of all, it presents a vivid reminder that we already have the answers we seek, if we can just slow down to honor them.

View Event →
Shuffle Collective: Weekend of Words
May
9
8:45 PM20:45

Shuffle Collective: Weekend of Words

The sharing of words through story, poem and song has always brought communities together in times of fear and change. So, join us for Weekend of Words, a free virtual literary festival to celebrate the written word and those behind it.

Thank you so much for your interest in this little experiment that has taken the form of a spontaneous pop-up festival! It was conceived as a response to the new climate around us, with so many events, classes and performances cancelled. We now have over 125 presenters, 50 sessions and over 30 hours of free literary programming for the community.

The mission of the festival is keep the important work of authors visible, create revenue streams and provide inspiration for others in the literary community. One part of the experiment is to see if we can create a new revenue stream for artists — to make this festival accessible to everyone, we made the programming free and are going to be encouraging donations to the presenters. We believe this can help us achieve all parts of the festival mission — broadest reach, affordability and with scale, financial support for all of the artists.

So, we ask you to join us in this grand experiment! Find the sessions that grab your attention, spread the word about them to others in the community, show up to let the presenters know that what they do matters, and when something speaks to you, be generous. Whether financially or just with your words, let them know.

We hope you find this festival meaningful, and fruitful. Thank you for being a part!

View Event →
NIAC's Mental Health & Wellness in a Time of Crisis: A Conversation with Ms. Melody Moezzi and Dr. Shokooh Miry
May
7
4:00 PM16:00

NIAC's Mental Health & Wellness in a Time of Crisis: A Conversation with Ms. Melody Moezzi and Dr. Shokooh Miry

Update: YouTube clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww0FFRLsPHA

In the midst of today’s global health crisis, our lives have changed in ways we could have never imagined: from the way we work, to how we interact with our friends and family, to how we practice self-care and compassion. And as we continue to grapple with an uncertain world, there is no better time for our community to discuss not just how we’re doing, but ways we can better care for ourselves in a time of crisis. 

Join NIAC on May 7, 2020 at 4pm ET for a Zoom conversation about mental health and wellness with award winning Iranian-American author Melody Moezzi and former NIAC board chair and clinical psychologist Dr. Shokooh Miry. NIAC Communications Director Mana Mostatabi will host the discussion, which will explore how today’s crisis, compounded by months of political turmoil, impacts our shared human experience—and ways we can begin to heal as we navigate an evolving world. 

View Event →
#RumiRx Book Quarantour: Brave Book Club (hosted by This Is My Brave)
Apr
15
9:00 PM21:00

#RumiRx Book Quarantour: Brave Book Club (hosted by This Is My Brave)

This is My Brave Book Club - Live Interactive Virtual Event - In Conversation with Jennifer Marshall - Wednesday April 15 @ 9pm ET / 6pm PT

Join us on Instagram Live at 9pm EST/6pm PST as @jenn.thisismybrave chats with @melody.moezzi about her recently published book, “The Rumi Prescription.” Click the link to order your Kindle copy today: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VBW25RR

View Event →
CANCELED - The Muse and the Marketplace: GrubStreet’s National Conference for Writers (Boston, MA)
Apr
3
7:00 AM07:00

CANCELED - The Muse and the Marketplace: GrubStreet’s National Conference for Writers (Boston, MA)

Our three-day literary conference educates aspiring and emerging writers on the craft of fiction and nonfiction, prepares them for the ever-changing world of publishing and promotion, and creates opportunities for meaningful networking.

Registration: https://museandthemarketplace.com/register

View Event →
#RumiRx Book Quarantour: How To Start (And Keep Going) As A Writer - Online Class (hosted by Scuppernong Books)
Mar
28
2:00 PM14:00

#RumiRx Book Quarantour: How To Start (And Keep Going) As A Writer - Online Class (hosted by Scuppernong Books)

Have you always wanted to be a writer, but never known where to start or how to find the time? Well, maybe now is the time and home is the place—and Scuppernong Books is here to help! Attend this unique online writing seminar, and learn how to get started (or keep going) as a writer from award-winning author and creative writing professor, Melody Moezzi. She will share her experiences and insights as a successful author and essayist, as well as answer your questions, making sure that this seminar is tailored to your specific needs.

$25 - Class only
$35 - Class and a copy of The Rumi Prescription
Buy tickets here: https://www.scuppernongbooks.com/scuppernong-merch

FB page: https://www.facebook.com/events/250530249442146

View Event →
POSTPONED - The Rumi Prescription Book Tour: Vroman's Bookstore, in conversation with NIAC's Mana Mostatabi (Pasadena, CA)
Mar
16
7:00 PM19:00

POSTPONED - The Rumi Prescription Book Tour: Vroman's Bookstore, in conversation with NIAC's Mana Mostatabi (Pasadena, CA)

Melody will be in conversation with Mana Mostatabi, who is the National Iranian American Council’s Communications Director. Those wishing to get books signed will be asked to purchase at least one copy of the author's most recent title from Vroman's. For each purchased copy of the newest title, customers may bring up to three copies from home to be signed. This policy applies to all Vroman's Bookstore events unless otherwise noted. Save your Vroman's receipt; it will be checked when you enter the signing line.

https://www.vromansbookstore.com/event/melody-moezzi-conversation-mana-mostatabi-discusses-and-signs-rumi-prescription-how-ancient

View Event →
The Rumi Prescription Book Tour: Scuppernong Books, in conversation with Deonna Kelli Sayed (Greensboro, NC)
Mar
12
7:00 PM19:00

The Rumi Prescription Book Tour: Scuppernong Books, in conversation with Deonna Kelli Sayed (Greensboro, NC)

Join me in Greensboro, NC for a RumiRx tour stop at Scuppernong Books. I’ll do a short reading and be joined in conversation/Q&A by Greensboro’s own author, storyteller, TEDx speaker, and award-winning podcast producer Deonna Kelli Sayed.

Events: https://www.scuppernongbooks.com/event/melody-moezzi-rumi-prescription

View Event →
The Rumi Prescription Book Tour: UNC Wilmington
Mar
2
7:00 PM19:00

The Rumi Prescription Book Tour: UNC Wilmington

  • University of North Carolina Wilmington (Kenan Hall 111) (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

UNCW PRESS RELEASE:

Visiting Assistant Professor Melody Moezzi Book Launch Reading at the University of North Carolina Wilmington March 2

WILMINGTON, N.C.— Melody Moezzi, visiting assistant professor in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, will read to celebrate the release of her latest book, The Rumi Prescription at 7 p.m., Monday, March 2 in Kenan Hall 1111.

Melody Moezzi is an Iranian-American Muslim author, attorney, activist, and professor of creative nonfiction. Kirkus calls her latest book, The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life, “a heartening narrative of family, transformation, and courage” that “could shatter a variety of prejudices and stereotypes.” She is also the author of Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life and War on Error: Real Stories of American Muslims, as well as a United Nations Global Expert and an Opinion Leader for the British Council’s “Our Shared Future” initiative. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and myriad other outlets. She has also appeared as a commentator on many radio and television programs, including NPR, CNN, BBC, PBS, and others. A graduate of Wesleyan University and Emory University's School of Law and School of Public Health, Moezzi lives between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Wilmington, North Carolina with her husband, Matthew, and their ungrateful cats, Keshmesh and Nazanin.

This event is free and open to the public. A reception sponsored by the department and book signing sponsored by Pomegranate Books will follow the reading.

For further information on UNCW’s programs and events in creative writing, please contact the Department of Creative Writing at 910.962.7063.

View Event →