VQR Writers from Iran

The Summer 2010 issue of Virginia Quarterly Review includes A Special Symposium of Writers from Iran in response to recent events, including the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, who’s death during protests in central Tehran was captured on video and quickly went viral. VQR recounts the events that lead up to this tragedy, and introduces readers to the personal life of Neda, including her love for photographer Caspian Makan, who was jailed following Neda’s death and has since been released and fled his home country.

“To tell this side of life in Iran—the personal side, the side of longing and heartbreak—we asked Iranian-born writers Laleh Khadivi and Erika Abrahamian to assemble a special portfolio of work by writers from Iran. They have gathered intimate portraits of love curbed by Sharia law and separation imposed by political imprisonment; this work illustrates both the untenable strictures that give rise to protest and the unendurable consequences of opposing the government’s mandates. They also provide the backdrop and context for the other places in the world where people find themselves caught between impossible choices.”

Read more on VQR, including some articles in their entirety.