Synopses & Reviews
Shortly after the 1989 publication of Women Without Men in her native Iran, Shahrnush Parsipur was arrested and jailed for her frank and defiant portrayal of women’s sexuality. Now banned in Iran, this small masterpiece was eventually translated into several languages and introduces U.S. readers to the work of a brilliant Persian writer. With a tone that is stark, and bold, Women Without Men creates an evocative allegory of life for contemporary Iranian women. In the interwoven -destinies of five women, simple situations—such as walking down a road or leaving the house—become, in the tumult of post-WW II Iran, horrific and defiant as women escape the narrow confines of family and society—only to face daunting new challenges.
Now in political exile, Shahrnush Parsipur lives in the Bay Area. She is the author of several short story collections including Touba and the Meaning of Night.
Synopsis
Iran's leading dissident writer delivers a powerful story of women's lives within a captivating, magical tale.
About the Author
Born in Iran in 1946, Shahrnush Parsipur is the author of seven novels, numerous short stories, and a memoir of her time in Iranian prisons. She was jailed for her writing several times in Iran, first by the Shah's secret police, and later by the Islamic Republic. Her most recent imprisonment resulted from her frank treatment of women's sexuality in the novel Women Without Men. Several of her novels have been published in Europe. All are currently banned in Iran. Parsipur has been recognized by the Lillian Hellman/Dashiell Hammet Fund for Free Expression of Human Rights Watch. She now lives in exile in California.Persis Karim is associate professor of comparative literature and creative writing at San Jose State University. She is co-editor, with Mahammed Mehdi Khorrami, of A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans.