Martyr!

The title of the book includes an exclamation point. What tone did this set for you before you began reading the book?

Author Kaveh Akbar is an award-winning poet. How do you see his talent as a poet influence his writing in Martyr!?

Akbar based Roya’s death during a real-life event— the destruction of Iran Air Flight 665 by the U.S.S. Vincennes in 1988. Afterwards, her widower and child immigrate to the United States, the same country that was responsible for the tragedy. How do you think this shaped the trajectory of Ali and Cyrus’s lives?

How do you perceive Cyrus’s imagined conversations between fictional characters? Who would you put into an imaginary conversation together and why?

How has survivor’s guilt affected Cyrus throughout his life? Does he feel doomed or spared?

Does Cyrus’s conversation with Orkideh change his view of martyrdom? Discuss.

In an interview with NPR, Akbar said “art is a mechanism by which people have sought immortality for millennia.” Do you agree with his statement? How does this relate to Cyrus’s journey?