IRAN UNVEILED
A Collaboration with City of Asylum/Pittsburgh
Held on Thur, July 23, 2009 at the WYEP Community Broadcast Center
67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 (South Side)
This timely and relevant program featured readings by two Iranian women authors, Anahita Firouz and Moniro Ravanipour.
Since the outcome of the Iranian election was announced on June 13, 2009, Americans have seen image after image of Iranian women, young and old, protesting the election results.
There are countless stories emerging from the chaos including tales of female leadership and courage. Iranian women are rapidly becoming the face of the opposition. No one image is now more iconic than that of a young Iranian woman, called Neda, Farsi for the voice or call, whose horrific death on the streets of Tehran was captured on video and broadcast throughout the world.
In light of these events, American Shorts @ WYEP was honored to host Ms. Ravanipour and Ms. Firouz to share their personal experiences and writing in an effort to further vocalize the protest of Iranian women.
A major figure in Iranian literature, Moniro Ravanipour has published eight books in Persian, including the novels Ahl-e Ghargh (The Drowned) and Del-e Fulad (Heart of Steel). Her short story “Satan’s Stones” was included in Strange Times, My Dear, the PEN Anthology of Iranian Literature.
Ravanipour has led the campaign against the stoning of women and has spoken openly at international conferences about the reform movement in her home country. While Ravanipour herself maintains that her fiction is not overtly political, her honest portrayals of the lives and concerns of Iranians, particularly Iranian women, led to her blacklisting by the government. In early 2007, her books were stripped from Iranian bookstore shelves in a country-wide raid.
Anahita Firouz was born and grew up in Tehran. She left Iran in 1980 during the Revolution and currently lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and two children. Her first novel In the Walled Gardens was published in 2002. Kirkus Editions calls it “a luminous debut about a pair of star-crossed lovers in during the last days of the Shah…a well-crafted portrait of human love trapped in the vortex of history”.
In the Walled Gardens gives readers accustomed to Iranian stories of religious fanatics, black veiled woman and mullahs, a different side of this fascinating country. It is a compelling story rooted in Persian culture. Ms. Firouz is currently at work on her second novel.
Following an audience Q&A with Ravanipour and Firouz, the evening concluded with the Pittsburgh premiere of the Iranian film, Alone in Tehran. Directed by Pirooz Kalantair, the short documentary tells the story of Behnaz Jafari, an Iranian actress, and her life growing up as an orphan in Tehran.
Local DJ James Grye provided the evenings soundtrack, spinning contemporary Iranian music—an eclectic mix of pop, hip-hip and instrumental tracks.
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