Karimi won the
Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award She illustrated the Zsuzsanna Ozsváth and
Frederick Turner's translation of
Goethe's Faust, published by Deep Vellum Books, in 2020. Karimi is the author of the illustrated book
Above us the Milky Way: An Illuminated Alphabet, published by Deep Vellum, in 2020). The book was Karimi's first, is autobiographical, and incorporates family photographs and watercolour paintings. The book follows the stories of five sisters, who are born in Afghanistan and relocate to the United States. It was described by
D Magazine as "gorgeous". The book inspired the 2022 exhibit
Above Us the Milky Way in Void Gallery,
Belfast. She was a
Neustadt International Prize for Literature jury member in 2022. == Personal life ==