Originally from Iran, Penn Javdan was born in the grip of a war that killed over a million people.

 

he's completing a PhD in political philosophy at the University of Toronto. 

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coupling his personal experience as a refugee with his academic expertise in political violence, he writes atmospheric dramas about characters who overcome persecution in the face of big shadows-- conspiracies, political power, and dark technology.

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recently, his short story was published in best small fictions, an international anthology where guest editors have included pulitzer prize, pen/faulkner, and pen/malamud award winners. 

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On the journalism side, his most recent work was an interview with Don Mckellar, co-showrunner of HBO’s THE SYMPATHIZER, where he discusses the nature of writing, working with Robert Downey Jr., and the Vietnam War. 

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currently, he's at work on a psychological thriller novel, and on teleplays about the nature of memory, and on crime in the crypto world .

   

penn DIVIDES HIS TIME BETWEEN LOS ANGELES AND Toronto, but has lived all over: Tehran, Paris, New York City-- and maybe someday the moon.