CURRENTLY READING 12 May 2024 5 MIN

Books from Iranian-origin authors we’re adding to our TBR pile 

Real-life revolution meets ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ in the bold new voices of Iranian literature 

Like many non-Iranian readers, my introduction to Iranian writing was Marjane Satrapi (no, Rumi doesn’t count)—the French-Iranian graphic novelist’s deceptively simple black-and-white illustrations acquainted me with a country that has a complex history (and led me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole). Her comic book-style memoir, Persepolis, set against the backdrop of post-revolution Iran, is as witty as it is haunting, and a good introduction to Iranian literature, a genre in which Persian magical realism coexists with the grimness of modern-day society.  

While language has been a barrier to Indians accessing much of Iranian literature in the past, with limited translations available here, Iranian diaspora authors have come to our rescue. Settled across the US, Australia, and France, these authors are sharing real stories of oppression under the current regime alongside fiction about dysfunctional families, poetry, identity, as well as the Iranian immigrant experience. We spotlight 2024’s most exciting releases from this genre.  

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Woman, Life, Freedom

by Marjane Satrapi, translated by Una Dimitrijevic, Seven Stories Press

Returning to the drawing board after two decades, Satrapi’s latest book is an anthology of comic-book artists who came together to tell the story of Mahsa Amini (also known by the name Jina), the Kurdish woman whose arrest in 2022 for opposing the enforcement of hijab, and subsequent death in police custody, triggered a wave of protests throughout Iran. Persepolis fans will remember the protagonist, Marji’s hatred of Iran’s mandatory hijab. Mahsa Amini’s war cry, ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ gave Satrapi the title of her new book, or as I like to call it, her latest work of art, which comes 24 years after Persepolis. If that work embodied Satrapi’s definitive voice and gallows humour, then Woman, Life, Freedom, is where journalism meets storytelling. It’s a collation of diverse voices revealing real stories about the aftermath of the feminist revolution in Iran, where each voice is entirely devastating. Read the chapter titled ‘The Winter of Executions’, by Touka Neyestani and Jean-Pierre Perrin, for an especially scarring journey of anger and grief.

Tehrangeles

by Porochista Khakpour, Pantheon

The title is the portmanteau given to the Persian community in Los Angeles, one of the largest outside of Iran. Promising a diversion from the serious, this is a satirical read about a wealthy Iranian-American family of four sisters and their parents. The wealthy Milanis are about to land their own reality TV show, but of course, everyone has a secret to bury, so when the cameras start rolling, there aren’t enough rooms in their McMansion to hide. Khakpour calls it “a cross between Little Women and Crazy Rich Asians.” Anything that combines the lovely, heartfelt prose of the former with the fast-paced gossipy vibes of the latter has my interest (and my credit card at the ready). Tehrangeles releases on June 11.   

The Lion Women of Tehran

by Marjan Kamali, Gallery Books

The family saga theme in Iranian diaspora literature continues in Marjan Kamali’s upcoming book, The Lion Women of Tehran. Set in 1950s Tehran, it is about Ellie and Homa, who come from very different families, but form a Harry-and-Ron kind of friendship at the age of seven. In Ferrante-esque style, Kamali takes us through the lives of these two women as they come of age in Iran of the tumultuous ’70s and ’80s. The author not only tackles gender and class divides, family, identity, and immigration, but also vividly paints a picture of the culture, food, and fashion of Tehran at the time. The Lion Women of Tehran releases on July 2.

Martyr!

by Kaveh Akbar, Knopf

Akbar’s debut fiction novel (he’s well known for his previously published books of poetry) has been topping book lists of 2024 and for good reason. The protagonist, Cyrus Shams, is a young Iranian-American, a recovering addict, and a poet who wants his life and death to be meaningful. His story plays out alternately in dreams and reality: conversations play out between his father and Rumi (yes, that Rumi), his dead mother and Lisa Simpson (yes, that Lisa Simpson). The dreams are an amusing break from his sometimes sombre reality. The author also weaves in Cyrus’s immigrant experience, ultimately tied in with the circumstances of his mother's death: her Iran Air flight was shot down by USS Vincennes, a real-life tragedy that took place in 1988. The cover of Martyr! is intriguingly incongruous with its subject—a pop of yellow combined with a minimalist outline of a man on a horse holding a sword, whose significance will only occur to you at the end of the book, when you’re staring at it in awe.

The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen

by Shokoofeh Azar, Europa Editions

Combining elements of magic realism with key moments in Iran’s recent history is Shokoofeh Azar’s upcoming book, The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen. In this tale of 12 children who get lost in 1977 inside a mysterious palace, Shokoofeh, whose 2020 debut novel was shortlisted for the International Booker, writes a layered story that unfolds the complicated personal history of a family against the backdrop of Iran’s political transformations. In richly detailed, bold prose, she etches out each character’s story over five decades, from 1979 to 2022. The book is slated for release in late 2024.