Shahrnush Parsipur (Author)
Shahrnush Parsipur was born in Iran in 1946. She began her career as a writer of fiction and producer at Iranian National Television and Radio. She was imprisoned for nearly five years by the Islamist government without being formally charged. Shortly after her release, she published Women Without Men and was arrested and jailed again, this time for her frank and defiant portrayal of women's sexuality. While still banned in Iran, the novel became an underground bestseller there, has been translated into many languages around the world and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize. She was also the author of Touba and the Meaning of Night, among many other books, and lived in exile in Northern California until her death in 2026.

Sara Khalili (Translator)
Sara Khalili is an editor and translator of contemporary Iranian and Afghan literature. She is the recipient of a PEN/Heim Translation Fund Award and a Batchelder Honor from the American Library Association.