by Iris
Last month, the US and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran. Air strikes have killed numerous officials so far, as well as hundreds of civilians. It can be hard to look past the lens of war and conflict, especially in this age where 24/7 news coverage and constant social media updates are almost impossible to avoid. But it’s so important to remember that Iran is a country with an incredible wealth of history, literature, and poetry.
We have gathered a small selection of works from Iranian authors, both fiction and non-fiction, for your perusal.
1. The Persians – Sanam Mahloudji
“The Valiat family are in crisis. Elizabeth, the regal matriarch, remained in Tehran despite the revolution with only the Islamic law-breaking Niaz for company. Meanwhile, in America, Shirin, Seema and Bita are wondering if their gleaming lives in ‘the land of plenty’ are all they had hoped for.
When an annual vacation goes wildly awry and Shirin is arrested, long-held Valiat family secrets begin to surface. As their lives are turned upside down, could revealing the truth save their family or might it break them apart, once and for all?”
2. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
“Every Thursday morning in a living room in Iran, over tea and pastries, eight women meet in secret to discuss forbidden works of Western literature. As they lose themselves in the worlds of Lolita, The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice, gradually they come to share their own stories, dreams and hopes with each other, and, for a few hours, taste freedom. Azar Nafisi’s bestselling memoir is a moving, passionate testament to the transformative power of books, the magic of words and the search for beauty in life’s darkest moments.”
3. Martyr! by Kayeh Akbar
“Ever since his mother’s plane was senselessly shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby, Cyrus has been grappling with her death. Now, newly sober, he is set to learn the truth of her life. When an encounter with a dying artist leads Cyrus towards the mysteries of his past – an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as an Angel of Death, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter – he finds himself once again caught up in the story of his mother, who may not have been who or what she seemed. As Cyrus searches for meaning in the scattered clues of his life, a final revelation transforms everything he thought he knew.”
4. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
“The intelligent and outspoken child of radical Marxists, and the great-grandaughter of Iran’s last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life.
Amidst the tragedy, Marjane’s child’s eye view adds immediacy and humour, and her story of a childhood at once outrageous and ordinary, beset by the unthinkable and yet buffered by an extraordinary and loving family, is immensely moving.”
5. The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
“1953, Tehran. Roya loves nothing better than to while away the hours in the local stationery shop run by Mr. Fakhri. And when Mr. Fakhri introduces her to his other favorite customer – handsome Bahman, with his burning passion for justice and a shared love for Rumi’s poetry – Roya loses her heart at once. But around them, life in Tehran is changing. On the eve of their marriage, Roya heads to the town square to meet with Bahman. Suddenly, shockingly, violence erupts: a coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. Bahman never arrives.
Roya must piece her life back together. Her parents, wanting her to be safe, enroll her in college in California, where she meets and marries another man. But, nearly sixty years later, an accident of fate finally brings her the answer she has always wanted to know – Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?”
