Lila Azam Zanganeh is a writer born and raised in Paris, France, by exiled Iranian parents. She lives and works in New York City. She is the author of ''The Enchanter: Nabokov and Happiness'' (

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

, 2011). She was a member of the jury for the 2017 Man Booker Prize for fiction. In 2021, she published a long-form essay in ''Lolita in the Afterlife'' (

Vintage Books Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random Ho ...

, 2021). Her forthcoming novel, ''Exit Paradise'', will be published in 2025.

Life and work

Azam Zanganeh was born to Iranian exile parents, and the family escaped to Paris when Zanganeh was two years old, following the revolution of 1979. After studying literature and philosophy at the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

, she moved to the United States to become a teaching fellow in literature, cinema, and Romance languages at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2002, she began contributing literary articles, interviews, and essays to a host of American and European publications, among which ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', and ''

la Repubblica (; English: "the Republic") is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper with an average circulation of 151,309 copies in May 2023. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and l ...

''. She also holds a master's degree in International Affairs from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. Her first book, ''The Enchanter: Nabokov and Happiness'', has been published by W. W. Norton & Company in the United States,

in the United Kingdom, Éditions de l'Olivier in France, Contact in Holland, L'Ancora del Mediterraneo in Italy, Duomo Ediciones in Spain, Azbooka in Russia, Büchergilde Gutenberg in Germany, Everest in Turkey, Shang Shu in China, Al-Kamel in Lebanon, Mehri Publications in Iran, and Alfaguara Objetiva in Brazil, where it reached No. 10 on the national Brazilian bestseller list. She is fluent in seven languages (English, French, Persian, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and Portuguese). She writes and lives in New York City. Her new novel, ''Exit Paradise'', is forthcoming in 2025.

Social initiatives

* Azam Zanganeh served on the Board of Overseers of the

International Rescue Committee The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1 ...

for 12 years. * Azam Zanganeh was a member of the advisory board of The Lunchbox Fund, a non-profit organization that delivers a daily meal to pupils in township schools in Soweto, South Africa, until the end of 2011. * She is a global ambassador for Libraries Without Borders as well as a board member of Narrative4, an international story-exchange organization that promotes radical empathy.

Works and Publications

Source: * (Portuguese Brazilian Edition) * ''My Sister, Guard Your Veil, My Brother, Guard Your Eyes: Uncensored Iranian Voices'' (2006) (edited by Lila Azam Zanganeh). * ''Modern Classics Paris'' by Julien Green, Lila Azam Zanganeh (co-author) * ''Where You Are: A Collection of Maps That Will Leave You Feeling Completely Lost'' Lila Azam Zanganeh (contributing author) * ''L'estate la sentivo arrivare dal viale'', Lila Azam Zanganeh (interviewer)

Awards and recognition

* ''The Enchanter'' is the recipient of the Roger Shattuck Prize for Criticism, awarded each year by the

Center for Fiction The Center for Fiction, originally called the New York Mercantile Library, is a not-for-profit organization in New York City, with offices at 15 Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Prior to their move in early 2018, The Center for Fiction ...

, 2011. * Recognized by The Man

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

which named her as a judge for the 2017 ''PEN/NABOKOV AWARD FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL LITERATURE'' section. She served on a panel of five judges, chaired by Baroness Lola Young.

References

External links

"Ecstasy on 3 x 5 Cards: Lila Azam Zanganeh's Nabokov"
interview on Radio Open Source with Christopher Lydon, June 1, 2011.
Lila Azam Zanganeh on the portal RAI Letteratura

Lila Azam Zanganeh
at the Berlin International Literature Festival 2013
Lila Azam Zanganeh

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