“What is Baha’i Literature?”: A Youth Experiment

Nasim Mansuri is an editor, writer and chemical engineer. Her portfolio includes many years of entertainment coverage at Hypable.com and Bahá’í content writing and curation at BahaiTeachings.org. She has over a decade of experience as a freelance writer and editor across many genres – from novels to poetry and webseries – with a current focus on technical writing. In 2019, she co-founded the Young Writers' Endeavor, an annual online writing workshop for Bahá’í youth around the world to explore how writing can contribute to advancing the civilization-building vision of the Bahá’í Faith. She has continued to hold other writing-focused Bahá’í spaces for youth and adults since. Nasim was raised in Encarnacion, Paraguay, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and Professional Writing from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Her experiences in the field of service have offered ample opportunities to explore the intersection between writing and disseminating learning.

Ron Lapitan is a fundraiser for the Tahirih Justice Center and a writer and comic artist based in Virginia. His Webtoon series "A Bahá’í Comic," explains Bahá’í principles in short illustrations; "Ron's Bahá’í Comics," features short comics about friends of different beliefs learning about their common values and about Bahá’í youth; and “I’m a Bahá’í, Ask Me a Question” answers questions about the Faith as an interactive discourse with viewers of the Webtoon app. He also wrote a book of short stories, "We Laughed: A Bahá’í Youth's Diaries about Religion, Diversity, Change, & Growing Up." He has been part of the Young Writers’ Endeavor team since 2021, combining his experience as a homefront pioneer, junior youth animator and coordinator with his art to facilitate learning spaces for Bahá’í youth. Ron holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interpersonal Communication from George Mason University.