If my grandfather sat with pen and paper / Shahsavar

https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cswr/blog/view/448

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About the Author

Ava (she/her) is a Master of Science in Social Work candidate at Columbia University. Her experience as an educator and mental health counselor has focused on media-literacy, substance use, non-violent communication, queer healthcare, and sexual assault prevention and recovery. She strives to become a licensed clinical social worker, consultant, and policy-shifter who supports people that historically and presently experience identity-based harm.

Author Statement

"These poems are written from the perspective of my grandfather, who was born in Shahsavar– a coastal city in Northern Iran, which borders the Caspian Sea. These two poems are a recountment of the grief that he has felt, and continues to feel, after leaving his home country forty years ago. I share this grief with him. One of my biggest heartbreaks is having never been to Iran and knowing that it is not yet a viable place for me to live or comfortably visit. I know I am not alone in this feeling.

These poems are dedicated to immigrants and their decedents, like myself, who have a unique sense of incurable home-sickness. May we continue our traditions, celebrations, and storytelling– despite our distance."

cswr

ABOUT CSWR

The Columbia Social Work Review was founded in 2003 and is an annual peer-reviewed journal for up-and-coming scholars in the field of social work to share their research with faculty, fellow students, and the wider scholarly community. The mission of the Columbia Social Work Review is to publish original academic writing on social work practice, education, research, policy and theory from the perspective of social work students. The Review strives to enrich the scholarly nature of our school and the profession by providing a forum for the exchange of innovative ideas.