Writer friend Sam Kandej has a “top five” story on the venerable site, Fiction on the Web. Here is his BIO:
Hello! My name is Maysam Najafi Kandej, but I prefer to be called Sam Kandej in English. I was born on October 6th, 1988, in Tehran, while my mother was only seventeen.
As Iran is a vast country home to people of different races, languages, and religions, I’d like you to know that I’m a dark-skinned Persian Muslim, grown up in a relatively poor but respectable family.
English classes were the only summer classes my father could afford when I was a teenage boy. I liked the colorful books and the comic stories.
I was an average but hardworking student in high school. Through hard work, I was granted permission to study English Language and Literature at Kharazmi University for free, from 2009 until 2013. In some classes, I was among the top students, and in most of them, I wasn’t.
To be honest with you, I’ve been unsuccessful in almost all aspects of my life. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had my own good, memorable days. I’ve lived, cried, smiled, wept, and dreamt for better days.
I’ve been a teacher for the last sixteen years, but unfortunately, I’ve never been able to make good money from this job because of my country’s endless economic and political crises. You could also say that I haven’t been hardworking enough. I cannot disagree with that!
In my free time, I write short, whimsical stories and translate English stories by my favorite authors into Farsi. You can read my latest flash fiction, “An Unforgettable Yalda,” on Fiction on the Web.
My favorite Persian poets are Khayyam, who encourages us to enjoy the moment and not take this world too seriously, and Ferdowsi, who asks humans to be wise, moderate, and thoughtful.
I’m so fortunate to have been born a Persian, to enjoy the rich literature, and then to savor learning English word by word. If Persian is like red wine to me, then English is definitely my white wine. [Sadly, I don’t drink alcohol in real life!]
I’m currently translating fourteen short stories written by seven authors (three by Mitch Toews) for an upcoming book titled ‘Bike Killer’. The book will be available in Iran this summer.
~ ~ ~
Things are scary and unnerving right now, here in the west. Where Sam is, that’s just another day.
Mitchell Toews 
Mitchell –
I’ve seen an early version of I think “Bike Killer”. Until now I didn’t know the book would be named after my story (goes back to publication 2014 or 15 and may have been written in the 1990s). Congratulations on THREE stories. Thanks for sending me this. So much I didn’t know about Maysam even though we have corresponded for so many years. I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to see the book without sneaking into Iran. I’d buy it if I could.
Maysam has been a huge supporter of North American authors, and I hope much appreciated (certainly by me).
I think that my coauthor Bill Tope is in the book too. I got a pre-release copy of “Bike Killer”.
Mr. Mirthless AKA Doug
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Although I’ve been corresponding with Sam (I’ll try to remember, I’ve been using Maysam) for many years, I appreciate what I’ve learned from this short bio. Former neighbors are from Iran, but we didn’t talk about that (more about fences and cutting down vegetation). I have heard that US attacks disturbed his dog who I think of as Pannini, but I know that is wrong.
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