Maryam Rafiee writes about what it costs to leave, what survives the crossing, and what it means to build a life between worlds. Her work — shaped by her father's imprisonment in Iran, her own immigration to Canada, and a decade of longing — has been published in The Globe and Mail, The New Quarterly, ROOM Magazine, and beyond.
I write about the lives we leave behind — and the ones we dare to build.
Books
Available in print and eBook formats
A Story of Leaving, Losing and Becoming
A deeply personal memoir about exile, loss, and the slow work of belonging. Just days before leaving Iran, intelligence agents stormed her family's home. Years later, she still carries the cost of that departure.
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Published Memoir
A Story Through Letters
Letters written to her imprisoned father became a moving testimony to love, survival, and political repression.
Read more & order →Essays
Women Writers Women Books
September 24, 2026
As a teenager, I dreamed of becoming a cycling champion, but there was no women’s team at the time. Cycling in public was also forbidden for women. I cycled through the streets of Tehran wearing loose jogging clothes and a cap, trying to look like a boy so I would not be stopped by the morality police.
Read Essay →Humber Literary Review
Fall/Winter 2022–23
I left Iran with two suitcases and a backpack brimming with clothes and books, the essentials. I left behind the rest of my belongings in my room at my parents' home, in Tehran. I assumed I would go back every year for a visit and gradually bring what I'd left to my new home.
Read Essay →The Ex-Puritan · Issue 58
Summer 2022
I was five or so, standing in a line with my mother for rationed butter and sugar on a sizzling, hot summer day. Butter had been out of stock for months, and I hadn't had my favourite breakfast for so long that I had forgotten how it even tasted.
Read Essay →Media
Featured Articles
Canadian Immigrant
September 9, 2026
A profile on what it means to build a new life and identity after leaving one behind.
Read the article →Women Writers Women Books
September 24, 2026
A reflection on Rafiee's work and humanizing Iran beyond geopolitics.
Read the article →Book Reviews
Book Time by Lisa Day
September 17, 2026
I liked how each chapter offered a look at life in Canada or a situation that happened here and then a similar situation that happened in Iran.
Read the review →Kirkus
October 13, 2018
Affecting letters bearing witness to human rights abuses.
Read the review →Events
Nothing on the calendar right now, but Maryam is available for author talks, literary conversations, and community events — reach out to check availability.
About
Maryam Rafiee is an Iranian Canadian lawyer, writer, and human rights advocate. Through her legal work, advocacy, and writing, she explores themes of migration, memory, human rights, and the search for belonging. She is the author of Dear Baba: A Story Through Letters and Was It Worth It? A Journey of Leaving, Losing, and Becoming.
Read more about Maryam →
Contact
Whether you're a reader who wants to share your thoughts, a fellow writer seeking connection, or someone interested in my work — I'd love to hear from you.