This is a list of women writers who were born in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

or whose writings are closely associated with that country.

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Masoumeh Abad Masoumeh Abad (; born 5 September 1962) is an Iranian author, university professor, and conservative politician. She was a member of the fourth Islamic City Council of Tehran and its Director of Health Division. Abad is also the author of the bo ...

(born 1962), activist, politician, and non-fiction author *

Janet Afary Janet Afary is an author, feminist activist and researcher of history, religious studies and women studies. She is a professor and the Mellichamp Chair in Global Religion and Modernity at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Ca ...

(born 1960), feminist, historian, non-fiction writer *

Mahnaz Afkhami Mahnaz Afkhami (Persian: مهناز افخمی; born January 14, 1941) is an Iranian women's rights activist who served in the Cabinet of Iran from 1976 to 1978. She is founder and president of Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), executive direc ...

(born 1941), feminist, non-fiction writer, now in the United States *

Pegah Ahmadi Pegāh Ahmadi (; born 1974) is an Iranian poet, scholar, literary critic, and translator of poetry. Biography Pegah Ahmadi was born in Tehran in 1974. She began writing poetry at the age of seven. At seventeen, she made her debut as a poet by pu ...

(born 1974), poet, critic, translator *

Mahshid Amirshahi Mahshid Amirshahi (; surname also Romanized as Amir-Shahy or Amirshahy; born 9 April 1937) is an Iranian novelist, short story writer, humorist, literary critic, journalist, and translator. Biography Amirshahi was born on 9 April 1937 in Kermansh ...

(born 1937), novelist, short story writer, critic, journalist, translator * Jaleh Amouzgar (born 1939), linguist, anthropologist, academic *

Akram Monfared Arya Akram Monfared Arya is an Iranian-born Swedish aircraft pilot, the second woman to earn a pilot's license to fly aircraft in Iran, after Princess Fatemeh Pahlavi. She is a writer, artist and politician based in Stockholm, Sweden. Aviation ...

(born 1946), pilot, poet, short story writer, artist, now living in Sweden, writes in Persian, Swedish and English *

Lady Amin Hajiyeh Seyyedeh Nosrat Begum Amin, also known as Banu Amin, Lady Amin (; 1886–1983), was Iran's most outstanding female jurisprudent, theologian and great Muslim mystic (‘arif) of the 20th century, a ''Lady Mujtahideh''. She received numero ...

(1886–1983), mystic, author of works on Islamic sciences *

(born 1937), novelist, short story writer, critic, journalist, translator *

Noushafarin Ansari Noushafarin (Noushin) Ansari (; born 1939 in Simla, India) is an Iranian librarian, educator, and manager. Life Her parents were diplomats; therefore she was exposed to many languages and cultures in Asia and Europe. In 1958-1960 she studied lib ...

(born 1939), librarian, educator, journalist *

Mastoureh Ardalan Mah Sharaf Khanom Mastoureh Ardalan or Mastura Ardalan (1805−1848) was a Kurdish poet, historian, and writer. She wrote mainly in Persian and Gorani. Biography Ardalan was born in Sanandaj in Qajar Iran and died in Sulaymaniyah in the Ott ...

(1805–1848), Kurdish poet, philosopher, historian * Neda Aria, (born 1981), Transgressive Fiction writer and researcher *

Mina Assadi Mina Assadi (; born March 12, 1943) is an Iranian-born poet, author, journalist and songwriter who lives in exile in Stockholm, Sweden. Author Assadi wrote her debut book, a collection of poems named ''Minas Gift'' (Armanghane Mina), at the age ...

(born 1943), poet, journalist, living in Sweden *

Bibi Khanoom Astarabadi Bibi Khanoom Astarabadi ()‎ (1858/59 – 1921) was a notable Iranian writer, satirist, and one of the pioneering figures in the women's movement of Iran. Biography Bibi Khatoon Astarabadi was born , to the family of Mohammad Baqer Khan As ...

(c.1858–1921), feminist, literary historian *

Ghazaleh Alizadeh Ghazaleh Alizadeh ( ; 15 February 1949 – 12 May 1996) (née Fatemeh Alizadeh) was an Iranian poet and writer. Her mother, Monirosadat Seyedi, shared her literary talents as both a poet and writer. Alizadeh was married twice, and with her husba ...

(1949–1996), writer, poet

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* Rakhshan Bani-E'temad (born 1954), film director, screenwriter *

Najmieh Batmanglij Najmieh Khalili Batmanglij (, ) is an Iranian-American chef and cookbook author. Born in Tehran, she fled the Iranian Revolution in 1979, moving first to France, then the United States, building a career as a cookbook author as she went. Her fi ...

(born 1957), Iranian-American cookbook writer *

Simin Behbahani Simin Behbahani, her surname also appears as Bihbahani (née Siminbar Khalili; ; 20 July 1927 – 19 August 2014) was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet, lyricist, and activist. Renowned for her mastery of the ghazal, a traditional poetic for ...

(1927–2014), acclaimed poet * Niloofar Beyzaie (born 1967), playwright, theatre director, living in German *

Taraneh Boroumand Taraneh Boroumand () is an Iranian playwright, writer, poet, and translator. She is the author of a collection of short stories, a book of poetry, and three plays. She is best known for her theatrical debut ''Gereh-i dar Tār-o-Pūd-e Naqš'' ("A ...

playwright, writer, poet, translator *

Mona Borzouei Mona Borzouee () is an Iranian poet and songwriter. Borzouee is known for writing Persian song lyrics for several well-known Iranian musicians. She was arrested in October 2022 during the Iranian protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. Ba ...

, (born 1984), poet and songwriter

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Simin Daneshvar Simin Dāneshvar (‎; 28 April 1921 – 8 March 2012) was an Iranian academic, novelist, fiction writer, and translator. She was largely regarded as the first major Iranian woman novelist. Her books dealt with the lives of ordinary Iranians, ...

(1921–2012), acclaimed early female novelist, short story writer, translator, educator *

Soraya Darabi Soraya Darabi ( ‘’Soraya Darabi’’; born 23 September 1955) is an Iranian teacher, journalist and trade union activist. She was editor of the ''Teacher's Pen Weekly Paper'' and vice president of the Iran Teachers Trade Association (ITTA). ...

(born 1955), journalist, trade union activist * Sahar Delijani (born 1983), widely translated novelist, author of '' Children of the Jacaranda Tree'', living between the United States and Italy *

Sediqeh Dowlatabadi Sediqeh Dowlatabadi ( ; 1882 in Isfahan – July 30, 1961 in Tehran) was an Iranian Feminism, feminist activist and journalism, journalist and one of the pioneering figures in the Persian women's movement. On one of the occasions when Dowlatabadi ...

(1882–1961), feminist, journalist * Firoozeh Dumas (born 1965), Iranian-American memoirist, humorous writer, author of ''

Funny in Farsi ''Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America'' is a 2003 memoir by Iranian American author Firoozeh Dumas. The book describes Dumas's move with her family in 1972, at age seven, from Iran to Whittier, California, and her life in t ...

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Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering effor ...

(born 1947), Nobel peace prize winner, human rights activist, non-fiction writer * Amanda Enayati (born 1967), columnist, communication strategist * Camelia Entekhabifard (born 1973), poet, journalist, and memoirist, living in the United States *

Parvin E'tesami Rakhshandeh E'tesami (, ''Raḵšanda Eʿteṣāmī''; 17 March 1907 – 4 April 1941), better known as Parvin E'tesami (), was a 20th-century Iranian Persian language, Persian poet. Life Parvin E'tesami was born on 17 March 1907 in Tabriz to M ...

(1907–1941), acclaimed classical poet, essayist * Mansoureh Ettehadieh (graduated 1956), historian, educator, non-fiction writer, novelist * Tahereh Eybod (born 1963), author, researcher, instructor, critic, and journalist.

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Forough Farrokhzad Forugh Farrokhzad (; 28 December 1934 – 14 February 1967) was an influential Iranian poet and film director. She was a controversial modernist poet and an iconoclastic,* feminist author. Farrokhzad died in a car accident at the age of 32. Ear ...

(1935–1967), influential poet, film director, poetry translated into several languages including English *

Pooran Farrokhzad Pooran Farrokhzad (, 4 February 1933 – 29 December 2016) was an Iranian writer, poet, playwright, and encyclopedist. She was author of the ''Encyclopedia of Women Culture Makers in Iran and in the World'' which was the first comprehensive women ...

, since the 1990s: poet, playwright, encyclopedist *

Nazila Fathi Nazila Fathi (born December 28, 1970) is an Iranian-Canadian author and former Teheran correspondent for ''The New York Times''. She also reported on Iran for both ''Time'' and ''Agence France-Presse''. In her book ''The Lonely War,'' she interwea ...

(born 1970), author and Iranian correspondent for ''The New York Times''

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Zarah Ghahramani Zarah Ghahramani () is an Iranian-born Kurdish author living in Australia who wrote '' My Life as a Traitor'', an award-winning memoir of her imprisonment and torture in Evin Prison. Life Ghahramani was born and raised in Tehran, Iran in 1981 a ...

(born 1981), Iranian-born Australian memoirist, author of '' My Life as a Traitor'' *

Shusha Guppy Shushā Guppy (; née Shamsi Assār (; 24 December 1935 – 21 March 2008) was a writer, editor and a singer of Persian and Western folk songs. She lived in London from the early 1960s, until her death in 2008. Early life Her father, Sayyed M ...

(1935–2008), singer, memoirist, writer, critic, journal editor; she lived in London

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* Fattaneh Haj Seyed Javadi (born 1945), best selling novelist *

Roya Hakakian Roya Hakakian (; born 1966) is an Iranian American Jewish journalist, lecturer, and writer. Born in Iran, she came to the United States as a refugee and is now a naturalized citizen. She is the author of several books, including an acclaimed memoi ...

(born 1966), Iranian-American poet, journalist, memoirist, essayist, television producer *

Maryam Heydarzadeh Maryam Heydarzadeh (; born November 20, 1977) is a contemporary Iranian poet, lyricist, singer and painter. Heydarzadeh is blind. She writes simple, yet deep poetry, almost always about the state of being in love. Some Iranian singers have cre ...

(born 1977), poet, lyricist * Maryam Hooleh (born 1978), poet, novelist, filmmaker

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* Rosa Jamali (born 1977), poet, playwright, translator * Hamideh Jahangiri (born 1981), Author, translator, Academic,

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Sheema Kalbasi Sheema Kalbasi (Persian: شیما کلباسی; born November 20, 1972, in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian-Danish-American poet and writer who addresses issues of feminism, war, refugees, human rights, and freedom of expression. She is also a filmmaker ...

(born 1972), widely translated poet, human rights activist, living in the United States *

Mehrangiz Kar Mehrangiz Kar (; born 10 October 1944 Ahvaz, Iran), a human rights lawyer from Iran, is an internationally recognized writer, speaker and activist who advocates for the defense of women’s and human rights in Iran and throughout the Islamic worl ...

(born 1944), women's rights activist, essayist, author of ''Crossing the Red Line'' *

Persis Karim Persis Maryam Karim (born 1962) is an American poet, essayist, editor, and educator. Her work focuses on Iranians living outside of Iran, specifically Iranian Americans, and their complicated histories and identities which is often presented throu ...

(born 1962), literature scholar, author, and professor; director of the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

; lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. *

Leila Kasra Leila Kasra (‎; 1939–1989) also known as Hedieh (), (March 27, 1939 – May 16, 1989) was a prominent Iranian contemporary poet and lyricist who has written lyrics for notable artists including Ebi, Dariush, Sattar, Vigen, Moein, Maha ...

(1939–1989), poet, lyricist *

Fatemeh Keshavarz Fatemeh Keshavarz Ph.D. () is an Iranian academic, Rumi and Persian studies scholar, and a poet in Persian and English. She is the Roshan Chair of Persian Studies and Director of the Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryl ...

(born 1952), poet, educator, literary historian, living in the United States *

Porochista Khakpour Porochista Khakpour ( Persian: پوروچیستا خاکپور, born January 17, 1978) is an Iranian American novelist, essayist, and journalist. A refugee from Iran whose family fled the Iran-Iraq War and the Islamic Revolution, Khakpour grew ...

(born 1978), Iranian-American novelist, essayist

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Shahla Lahiji Shahla Lahiji (24 April 1942 – 8 January 2024) was an Iranian writer, publisher, translator, women's rights activist, and the director of Roshangaran, a publishing house on women's issues. Biography Lahiji completed a degree in sociology at the ...

(1942–2024), feminist, translator, publisher

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Mahsati Mahsati () was a medieval Persian female poet who was reportedly one of the first poets to compose '' ruba'iyat'' (quatrains) in her native language. Name Various interpretations of her name have been suggested based on the consonants ''mhsty' ...

(c.1089–c.1159), early Persian poet writing in quatrains *

Marsha Mehran Marsha Mehran (; born Mahsa Mehran; 11 November 1977 – April 2014) was an Iranian novelist. Her works include the international bestsellers ''Pomegranate Soup'' (2005) and ''Rosewater and Soda Bread'' (2008). Early life Mehran was born in Tehr ...

(1977–2014), widely translated novelist, author of ''Pomegranate Soup''; she lived in Argentina, the United States, Australia and Ireland. *

Mozhgan Babamarandi Mozhgan Babamarandi ( Persian: مژگان بابامرندی; born in Tehran, Iran), is an Iranian writer best known for children and young adult fiction. She began her writing career in 1995. Her writing focuses on moral and social issues in Ira ...

is an eminent Iranian writer best known for children and

young adult fiction Young adult literature (YA) is typically written for readers aged 12 to 18 and includes most of the themes found in adult fiction, such as family dysfunction, substance abuse, alcoholism, and sexuality. It is characterized by simpler world build ...

, since 1996 *

Farzaneh Milani Farzaneh Milani (; born ) is an Iranian-born American scholar, author, poet, translator, and educator. Milani teaches Persian literature and women's studies at the University of Virginia; and serves as the Chair of the Department of Middle Easter ...

, Iranian-American educator, since early 1990s: non-fiction writer, poet *

Azadeh Moaveni Azadeh Moaveni (Persian: آزاده معاونى, born 1976) is an Iranian-American writer, journalist, and academic. She is the former director of the Gender and Conflict Program at the International Crisis Group, and is Associate Professor of ...

(born 1976), Iranian-American journalist, memoirist, author of '' Lipstick Jihad'', now living in London *

Roza Montazemi Fatemeh Bahrayni (; 5 August 1922 – 23 October 2009), better known as Roza Montazemi (), was an Iranian author of cookbooks. Her cookbook ''Honar-e Aashpazi'' (''The Art of Cooking'') has been in publication since 1964–1965 and is now in its 4 ...

(c.1921–2009), popular cookbook writer *

Minoo Moshiri Minoo Moshiri () also known as Minou Moshiri, is an essayist, literary translator, film-critic and journalist. Early life and education Minoo Moshiri was born in Tehran, Iran. She attended primary and secondary school in the French Ecole Jeann ...

, essayist, translator and journalist *

Granaz Moussavi Granaz Moussavi (Persian : گراناز موسوی ) is an Iranian-Australian contemporary poet, film director and screenwriter. She is known for her avant-garde poetry in the 1990s. Her debut feature film '' My Tehran for Sale'' (2009) is an in ...

(born 1976), Iranian-Australian poet, screenwriter, film director

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Azar Nafisi Azar Nafisi (; born 1948)Following eighth grade, Nafisi's parents sent her to England for schooling from 1961 to 1963. Nafisi 2010, chapter 8, pp. 69-70; chapter 13, p. 115 is an Iranian-American writer and professor of English literature. Born in ...

(born 1955), feminist, memoirist, literary critic, author of ''

Reading Lolita in Tehran ''Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books'' is a book by Iranian author and professor Azar Nafisi. Published in 2003, it was on the New York Times Best Seller list, ''New York Times'' bestseller list for over one hundred weeks and has been tr ...

'' *

Afsaneh Najmabadi Afsaneh Najmabadi (; born 29 December 1946) is an Iranian Americans, Iranian-born American historian, gender theorist, archivist, and educator. She is the Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at ...

(born 1946), Iranian-American historian, educator, literary historian, author of ''

The Story of the Daughters of Quchan ''The Story of the Daughters of Quchan: Gender and National Memory in Iranian History'' is a 1998 political history book written by Afsaneh Najmabadi, about a 1905 occurrence of human trafficking in Iran. The titular Daughters of Quchan were a g ...

'' *

Marina Nemat Marina Nemat (, ; born 22 April 1965) is the author of two memoirs about her life growing up in Iran, serving time in Evin Prison for speaking out against the Iranian government, escaping a death sentence and finally fleeing Iran to go and liv ...

(born 1965), memoirist

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* Ghazal Omid, memoirist, author of ''A True Odyssey of a Woman's Struggle in Islamic Iran Against Personal and Political Forces'' (2005)

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Shahrnush Parsipur Shahrnush Parsipur (; born 17 February 1946) is an Iranian-born writer and translator. Biography Shahrnush Parsipur was born on 17 February 1946; she was born and raised in Tehran. Parsipur received her B.A. degree in 1973 in sociology from T ...

(born 1946), novelist, short story writer, children's writer, translator * Zoya Pirzad (born 1952), Iranian-Armenian novelist, works translated into several languages

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* Leila Sadeghi (born 1977), writer *

Sepideh Shamlou Sepideh Shamlou (in Persian: سپیده شاملو) is an Iranian award-winner writer. She has written several novels in Persian. She was born in 1968 in Iran. She obtained a BS in English. Sepideh Shamlou started off writing film pieces, but with ...

(born 1968), writer *

Shadi Sadr Shadi Sadr (; born 1974) is an Iranian lawyer, human rights advocate, essayist and journalist. She co-founded Justice for Iran (JFI) in 2010 and is the Executive Director of the NGO. She has published and lectured worldwide. She has received a n ...

(born 1974), lawyer, journalist, women's rights activist * Nazi Safavi (born 1967), novelist, author of ''Hallway to Paradise'' * Tahereh Saffarzadeh (1936–2008), poet, non-fiction writer, translator, educator *

Parinoush Saniee Parinoush Saniee () is an Iranian novelist. Her novel ''The Book of Fate'' has been translated into 26 languages and the English translation by Sara Khalili was listed by ''World Literature Today'' as one of the "75 notable translations of 2013". ...

, since 2003, novelist, author of the widely translated ''The Book of Fate'' *

Homa Sarshar Homa Sarshar (; also Romanized as ''Homā Sarshār''; born 1946) is an Iranian-American author, activist, media personality, and award-winning journalist. She was a columnist for ''Zan-e-Ruz'' magazine and the ''Kayhan'' daily newspaper between 19 ...

, Iranian-American author, activist, feminist and journalist *

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis (comics), Persepolis'' and Persepo ...

(born 1969), Iranian-born French novelist, illustrator, children's writer * Louisa Shafia, Iranian-American chef and cookbook writer * Mahasti Shahrokhi (born 1956), novelist, poet * Siba Shakib, novelist, filmmaker, author of the widely translated ''Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep'' (2002) *

Shahla Sherkat Shahla Sherkat (born March 30, 1956) is an Iranian journalist, publisher, author, feminist, and women's rights activist. She is a prominent Persian feminist author and one of the pioneers of Women's rights movement in Iran. Biography Sherkat ...

(born 1956), journalist, feminist writer, journal publisher *

Zandokht Shirazi Zandokht Shirazi, also Zanddokht Shirazi (; 1909 – 1953), also known as Fakhr ol-Molūk (فخرالملوک) was a prominent Iranian feminist, poet, school teacher and women's rights activist.Sanasarian, Eliz Biography Her birthname was Fakhr ...

(1900–1953), feminist, poet, educator

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Táhirih Táhirih (Ṭāhira) (, "The Pure One," also called Qurrat al-ʿAyn ( "Solace/Consolation of the Eyes") are both titles of Fatimah Baraghani/Umm-i Salmih (1814 or 1817 – August 16–27, 1852), an influential poet, women's rights activist and th ...

, pseudonym of Fatimah Baraghani (c.1814–1852), poet, theologian * Goli Taraghi (born 1939), novelist, short story writer *

Niloufar Talebi Niloufar Talebi () is an author, literary translator, librettist, multidisciplinary artist, and producer. She was born in London to Iranian parents. Her work has been presented by, and/or performed at Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances, Atlanta Symp ...

, memoirist, nonfiction writer, literary translator, multidisciplinary artist

V

* Fariba Vafi (born 1963), novelist *

Lobat Vala Lobat Vala (; born 1930 in Tehran) is an Iranian poet and campaigner for the Women Liberation and Equal Rights in Iran. Early life Having been exiled from Iran since 1979, Vala lives in London, and she lived in Melbourne between 1980 and 198 ...

(born 1930), poet, feminist, now living in London

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Chista Yasrebi Chista Yasrebi () (born 19 October 1968 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian university lecturer, playwright, translator, literary critic and publisher. Early life and education Yasrebi was born in Tehran in 1968. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. in ...

(born 1968), writer, literary critic, translator, publisher * Elham Yaghoubian, since the 1990s: novelist, living in the United States

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iranian women writers - Iranian women writers, List of

Writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short stori ...

Writers, women

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See also

References