Mid-Sentence | To Keep The Sun Alive: Rabeah Ghaffari with Crystal Hana Kim

Iran, 1979: A city on the brink of revolution, a family on the verge of crisis.

Rabeah Ghaffari’s debut novel To Keep the Sun Alive brings readers to the northeastern city of Naishapur, Iran 1979 where the rumblings of revolution are starting to be felt. Ghaffari’s seamless narrative follows the members of one multigenerational family as they struggle to stay together as changing politics, corruption, and youthful fervor try to tear them apart. Novelist Crystal Hana Kim joins her for a conversation on writing process, depicting families in crisis, and the parallels between their work.

Rabeah Ghaffari was born in Iran and lives in New York City. She is a film editor and writer whose fiction was included in Reflections on Islamic Art and whose documentary, The Troupe, featured Tony Kushner. Her most recent feature-length screenplay, The Inheritors, was commissioned by producer and costume designer Patricia Field. 

Mid-Sentence presents a series of conversations with groundbreaking literary voices. Indie authors and cult favorites explore the intersections between literature and lived experience.

ASL interpretation and real-time (CART) captioning available upon request. Please submit your request at least two weeks in advance by emailing accessibility@nypl.org.