Ari Honarvar is an award-winning writer, speaker, and artist dedicated to building bridges between the arts, social justice, and well-being. Her words have appeared in Parents, Teen Vogue, The Guardian, Washington Post, Newsweek, New York Times, and elsewhere. Her flash-fiction stories are featured in The Nature of Cities anthologies, A Flash of Silver Green (2nd place Award, 2019), and City in a Wild Garden (1st Place Award, 2021).
Ari’s critically acclaimed debut novel, A Girl Called Rumi (2021, Forest Ave. Press), is a BookFest Award Winner, a Nautilus Award Winner, a Locus Award Finalist, a Foreword INDIES Award Finalist, and a Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2022. She is the author and illustrator of Rumi’s Gift (2018, Schiffer Publishing), featuring an oracle deck and an accompanying book of Ari’s original translations, meditations, stories, and artistic collaboration with the renowned illustrator, Carmen Costello.
As part of her continuous efforts to build poetry and musical bridges across war-torn and conflict-ridden borders, Ari is the Iranian Musical Ambassador of Peace, dancing with refugees and conducting Resilience through Joy workshops for refugees and volunteers on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border and Europe. Due to the program’s success, she now offers a customized program to schools, nonprofits, and corporations committed to social justice.
TEDx 2023 —When Savoring a Pleasant Moment is a Radical Act
Her recent Washington Post op-ed on Arranged Friendships has elicited an overwhelming worldwide response. She has been interviewed by different podcasts and publications on the subject including The Atlantic’s Friendship Files and is now helping facilitate other arranged friendship groups.
An acclaimed speaker, Ari presents at conferences, universities, nonprofits, and other venues. In live performances, she collaborates with musicians of different cultures and presents a dynamic program including poems, stories, and music. Ari is the founder of the Drop Poems Not Bombs project, sending musical love letters from American musicians to the people of Iran, and Dance for Freedom, a project garnering global support for Iranian protesters.