Shahriar Mandanipour

(Shiraz, Iran, 1956) is one of the most successful Iranian writers of today. His work, which consists of essays, children's books, travelogues, novels and film reviews, has been awarded many times. In 2009 a novel of his appeared in translation for the first time, Censuring an Iranian Love Story, which was received with a lot of acclaim by the international press. The main character is the writer Shahriar who decides to write a love story on Sara and Dara, the Romeo and Juliette of Islamic Iran. Their love and the writing process are frustrated by the severe moral and censorship laws in Iran. Mandanipour has had an eventful life. In the 1970s he joined the demonstrations against the sjah and in the 1980s he fought in the war against Iraq. He risked his neck as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Asr-e Panjshanbeh (Thursday night), founded in 1999 and banned in 2007. Today Mandanipour lives in exile in Cambridge and lectures at Harvard University.