Chuckanut Radio Hour: Dr. Mary Fariba Afsari with Kaitlyn Teer- Labor
About this Event
With musical guest Havilah Rand!
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"Joins the best medical memoirs with a moving personal story and a passion for the work. The frontlines of medicine have lent themselves to a long line of excellent memoirs, and they are now joined by Afsari's gripping debut." -Kirkus Reviews
"Most medical stories focus on the what and the how. What separates the good medical memoirs from the great ones is their focus on the why. Labor is certainly among the greats." -Publishers Weekly
Set against the backdrops of Portland, Oregon and Shiraz, Iran, Labor weaves two urgent narratives: a surgeon navigating a broken healthcare system, and the untold story of her grandmother Mehry — who died in 1950s Iran from lack of access to reproductive care, leaving behind four young children.
Anticipating reduced access ahead of the Dobbs decision, Dr. Afsari responded not with despair, but with action. She bought an RV and built a clinic. Labor is the story of why — and what it costs to keep caring.
Dr. Mary Fariba Afsari is a board-certified OB-GYN, founder of FemForward Health— one of the country's only mobile gynecology clinics— and author of Labor: One Woman's Work (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster). Her debut went to a 2nd printing just 16 days after launch.
Her grandmother Mehry died in 1950s Iran from lack of access to reproductive care. Decades later, Dr. Afsari uncovered that loss — and it transformed her medicine.
In 2022 she bought a 31-foot RV, built a clinic inside it, and drove it into neighborhoods with reduced healthcare access across the Pacific Northwest.
Kaitlyn Teer is a senior editor at Cup of Jo. Her essays have appeared in Orion, Catapult, Electric Lit, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere, and she has taught writing at Western Washington University. She lives in Bellingham, Washington, with her husband and two children.
Feel free to reach out to Village Books and Paper Dreams for further assistance at 360-671-2626!
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Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 12.55 to USD 34.32
