Interview With Ari Honarvar, Winter 2026 Flash Fiction Contest 1st Place Winner

Ari Honarvar is the founder of Rumi with a View, an initiative dedicated to bridging the arts, social justice, and wellbeing. Her words have been featured in The Guardian, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, and elsewhere. Drawing from her childhood experiences of war and oppression and her work with underserved communities, she facilitates Resilience through Joy workshops for refugees, healthcare workers, and social justice advocates worldwide. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novel A Girl Called Rumi and the bestselling oracle deck, Rumi’s Gift.

--interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on winning first place in our Winter 2026 Flash Fiction competition! What inspired you to write your story, “The Pomegranate Tree?”

Ari: This piece is inspired by a conversation I had with my father during the Iran-Iraq war. It’s a wartime memory I later wove into my novel A Girl Called Rumi, which draws on my childhood in Iran, immigration to the US, and the mythic, rich landscape of Iranian culture and literature.

I also wanted to address something that rarely makes the news: the environmental cost of war. The pomegranate tree became the heart of that. And underneath it all, the piece is asking the question that haunts anyone who has ever been attacked: Why do they hate us?

For the contest, I revised the piece to include modern warfare and the killing of schoolchildren. I had been following US/Israel drone attacks for years, and in February, I had a feeling the US was going to attack Iran again. Three days after I submitted the story, the US attacked the school in Minab and killed over 100 elementary school kids. I got chills when it happened in real life. And of course, I was devastated. 

WOW: Such terrible loss, it's hard to imagine. Thank you for sharing your contest entry with us. 

You’ve also written fiction and nonfiction in various forms and lengths. Do you find one more challenging than the others? Are you drawn to one form more than the others?

Ari: I find fiction to be more challenging—always. I do enjoy both, but I write more nonfiction because it's easier, it lets me say what I mean directly, and I get paid for it. Fiction is world-building and more meditative. When I get lost in it, there's nothing quite like it.

WOW: What advice would you give to someone wanting to try writing flash fiction for the first time?

Ari: Make every word count. That's the only rule that separates flash from longer fiction. Every sentence should earn its place by being evocative, necessary, or both. In your first draft, give yourself the freedom and space to tell the story without paying attention to the length, with all the details intact. Then hone and hone until it's within the word limit. I also believe in grounding any work of fiction in five or more senses and in layering emotion throughout.

WOW: What are you reading right now, and why did you choose to read it?

Ari: I'm finishing Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander. A friend recommended it, and it's Pride Month, so the timing felt right. And I'm starting The Trial by Kafka. I read it in high school, but wanted to return to it now that I work with asylum seekers and refugees. So much of the legal labyrinth they navigate feels like living inside an existentialist novel—bureaucratic, absurd, and so dehumanizing. And Kafka’s book feels prophetic. For me, balancing something heavy with something warm and enjoyable is the way to go, reading-wise.

WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Ari. Before you go, what encouragement or advice can you give to writers about entering writing contests?

Ari: Do it! Contests give you a deadline, somewhat of a constraint, and a reason to polish your work. Even if you don't place, you get to see what won and notice why it moved the judges. And you never know! Sometimes the piece you almost didn't submit is the one that changes everything.

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