My essay “Farzad, Son of Glory,” is on the list of Notable Essays in Best American Essays 2011! This is pretty exciting, because when I started with creative writing a few years ago, that was a goal I had in mind for some misty far-off future era when I’d have toiled long and hard in the salt mines of literary exertion. I clearly have lots more toiling and literary exerting to do, but still, there’s nothing like having a dream come true.
The essay was originally published in Bayou Magazine (from the University of New Orleans), Issue 53, in summer 2010.
You can read the essay here.
Therese Doucet 
That’s terrific–congratulations! I loved the essay.
Congratulations, Therese! This is wonderful!
I love it!! Congratulations, a well deserved honor!
Thanks so much, guys! I really appreciate it!
Wonderful article. Therese! A pleasure to read. I was at work during a break and lost track of time!
What an excellent essay. It also left me with a feeling of wonder and gratitude. Thank you for sharing this and congratulations for the well-deserved recognition.
Thanks so much for reading it! Hewie, very nice to meet you (virtually), and thanks for stopping by the blog!
Major congratulations, Therese; that is a great accomplishment!
I come to your website via 8track where I’m listening to your ‘Bad Love’ mix. You came up there under Alt rock/jazz. A very nice mix with some nice music I’ve never heard before.
I also read your essay which certainly is award worthy. 2 strange strangers meet in a strange land and appear to hit it off until the dark underneath reveals itself.
I was not familiar with the word lotharian” so I googled it. The Urban Dict. defined it as describing a loser, which did not seem to fit your context. Google next sent me to a Wikipedia entry on “Thuvia, Maid of Mars”, which clarified that the word referred to people from Lothar, “…home of an ancient fair-skinned human race gifted with the ability to create lifelike phantasms from pure thought.” Again, not a fit unless I was missing something otherworldly in your essay.
I eventually got that you meant Lothario-like, which is the interpretation of Farzed that I would go with.
Here’s to hoping your talent continues to receive the recognition it deserves.
Thank you Bruce and Dan both! That is very kind of you.
And Dan, sorry about the made-up word – every now and then I do make one up just for fun, and managed to convince the journal’s editor in this case that people would get it (which you did, although I’m sorry it was confusing!) Anyway, thanks for listening and reading! Do you have an 8tracks.com page? Let me know and I’ll follow your mixes! I love 8tracks, it is such a fun site for discovering cool new music.