Roya Khatiblou
Writer | Editor
About me
I’m an Iranian- and British-American writer based in Birmingham, UK.
My work has appeared in Salon, Litro, Reflex Press, Chicago Review, Passages North, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and elsewhere and been nominated for Best of the Net Anthology.
A microbiologist-turned-writer, I have an MA in fiction writing from Northwestern University and an MFA in fiction writing from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I was an editor for Ninth Letter and a lecturer in professional and creative writing.
I co-organize European Writers Salon, a traveling event series to bring writers together across Europe. I am also the founder of Independent Lit, a collaborative Substack newsletter dedicated to reviewing books from independent UK presses.
I am the recipient of two Developing Your Creative Practice grants from Arts Council England, a Short Story Apprenticeship from Word Factory and membership in Room 204, Writing West Midlands’ professional development scheme.
I'm represented by Salma Begum at Greyhound Literary.
Fiction
Flesh, Hayden's Ferry Review, The Nine Eyes of the Desert: A Sonoran Desert Web Issue 2023 (nominated for 2025 Best of the Net Anthology)
Chester Before Cheetos, Litro 2023
Enlightened, Reflex Press 2022
Marie Antoinette Helps You Move, Only Carries Pillows and Deer Antlers, Fahmidan Journal (reprint) 2022
Amsterdam, Chicago Review 2021
Marie Antoinette Helps You Move, Only Carries Pillows and Deer Antlers, Hotel Amerika 2018
Assemblage, Passages North 2016
Open Your Heart, Hobart 2015
Dog Tired, Hayden's Ferry Review 2014
Good Morning Beautiful, Phoebe 2010
Nonfiction
As Iranians rise up, it's time we also challenged the stereotype of the misogynist Iranian man, Salon 2022
Men of the Middle West, Ninth Letter 2013
Sweat and National Pride: 10 Reasons I Love Summer, In Our Words: a Salon for Queers and Co. 2012
