Desiree Akhavan is not very good at taking time off. “Right now I’m upstate with my ex-girlfriend, dogsitting. Yesterday, we went on a hike and the whole time I wanted to talk about writing my book and how to shape a chapter, and she was like, ‘Maybe you should write about how you can’t enjoy a vacation,’” says Akhavan, speaking from her temporary hideout in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The Iranian-American film-maker is as busy as ever, but in a way she’s never been before: on her own. She’s currently writing her first book, a collection of essays, after making her name as a groundbreaking writer, director and producer of films and television. Appropriate Behaviour was her first feature film, made in 2014 with production partner Cecilia Frugiuele, about a headstrong Iranian-American bisexual woman grappling with heartbreak. The Miseducation of Cameron Post followed in 2018—an empathetic and nuanced This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Three Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 26 Siri Hustvedt The novelist discusses memory, our need for community and why art matters. Films Issue 28 Archive: Grace Kelly Actress, princess, icon, enigma: Understanding Hollywood’s “snow-covered volcano.” Films Issue 29 André Aciman Charles Shafaieh meets the Proust scholar who wrote Call Me By Your Name. Arts & Culture Issue 30 Akwaeke Emezi An interview with the author who finished writing three novels before their first was even published. Films Issue 30 Teyonah Parris What does it take to get on Barry Jenkins’ call sheet? Candice Frederick speaks to the woman who knows. Arts & Culture Issue 30 Eileen Myles Meet Eileen Myles, the poet who once ran for president.
Arts & Culture Issue 26 Siri Hustvedt The novelist discusses memory, our need for community and why art matters.
Films Issue 28 Archive: Grace Kelly Actress, princess, icon, enigma: Understanding Hollywood’s “snow-covered volcano.”
Films Issue 29 André Aciman Charles Shafaieh meets the Proust scholar who wrote Call Me By Your Name.
Arts & Culture Issue 30 Akwaeke Emezi An interview with the author who finished writing three novels before their first was even published.
Films Issue 30 Teyonah Parris What does it take to get on Barry Jenkins’ call sheet? Candice Frederick speaks to the woman who knows.
