Roya Hakakian and Jen Balderama

Great Podversations

Author Roya Hakakian discusses her book "A Beginner’s Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious” with journalist Jen Balderama.

Roya Hakakian is the author of three books in English and has published two collections of poetry in Persian. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and on NPR’s All Things Considered. Hakakian has collaborated on journalistic programming for network television, including 60 Minutes. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and served on the editorial board of World Affairs. Since 2015, she has taught at THREAD, a writing workshop at Yale, and is a fellow at the Davenport College at Yale.

Jen Balderama is an editor in the Opinions section of The Washington Post, where she edits columns and essays by staff and contributing writers. Previously, she was an editor at The New York Times Book Review and on the national desk of The Times. For several years Balderama worked as a freelance editor of book-length nonfiction, novels, and essays. She was also a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where she studied literary and cultural criticism. Her writing has appeared in Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications.