Raised in Los Angeles by way of Tehran after coming to the U.S. as a refugee, I’m a journalist who never turns down the chance to follow a good story.
I specialize in long-form, narrative storytelling and international reporting.
My reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, Foreign Policy, Pacific Standard, Marie Claire, Los Angeles Magazine, Al Jazeera America, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, The Atlantic, Mental Floss, Roads & Kingdoms, Brownbook, Narratively and several other national and international publications.
During the course of my reporting, I have traveled around three internationally unrecognized de-facto republics still reeling from the devastating impacts of war, investigated medical marijuana use in assisted living facilities, reported on Iranian refugees in Europe converting to Christianity, drunk camel milk in Mongolia and visited the world’s only forensics lab that solves crimes against animals.
My interest lies in subcultures, marginalized and under-reported communities and issues, immigration, displacement, identity, the Middle East and how ordinary people are affected by the world, its leaders and their policies.
I’m a winner of the Write A House residency, a unique program that awards houses to writers (yes, really!) in Detroit, Michigan.
I'm currently documenting the Armenian experience in America through food with my project, Dining in Diaspora, where I'm tracing the intersection of cuisine and agriculture with genocide, immigration, identity and more. My work was recently featured in “We Are All Armenian: Voices From The Diaspora,” an anthology published by the University of Texas Press.
My reporting has been supported by a number of fellowships and grants, including the International Reporting Project Fellowship in Global Religion Reporting, Metlife Foundation Journalists in Aging Fellowship, Hrant Dink Foundation Fellowship for Turkish-Armenian Dialogue and the Images of Voices & Hope Restorative Narrative Fellowship.
As a content director, I’ve collaborated with top-tier publications and brands on digital marketing campaigns, developing successful and creative content and messaging strategies for both B2B and B2C clients.
I hold a B.A. in journalism from California State University, Northridge.