Stories from Tehran

Stories from Tehran (Expanded edition) by Fereshteh Molavi

Thirteen stories originally written in Persian in Tehran between 1980 and 1998, and translated into English by the author herself. From the afterword to the book, by Mahdi Ganjavi: The stories in this volume represent a selection of Molavi's fiction written up to 1998, prior to her immigration and the beginning of her exilic life in Canada. Stories from Tehran stands among Fereshteh Molavi's most essential works. With the addition of three new stories-Where is Shemr?, All the Days of God, and Appointment at Home-the collection grows in emotional intensity and thematic reach. Each piece draws from a distinct geography and sensibility: the first, a child's search for justice and meaning in the mythic residues of Karbala and contemporary cruelty; the second, a slow-burning meditation on female endurance, bodily collapse, and the quiet dignity of a woman's laboring life in Baluchistan; and the third, a chamber piece of war-haunted intimacy, where a father and daughter cling to stories and each other amid the threat of annihilation. Together, these stories deepen Molavi's exploration of memory, care, violence, and the aching desire to remain human amid history's erasures. They remind us that literature, like mourning, is an act of fidelity to what refuses to be silenced.

About the Author: Born in Tehran in 1953, Fereshteh Molavi lived and worked there until 1998 when she immigrated to Canada. She worked and taught at Yale University, University of Toronto, York University, and Seneca College. A fellow at Massey College and a writer-in-residence at George Brown College, Molavi has published many works of fiction and non-fiction in Persian in Iran and Europe. She has been the recipient of awards for novel and translation. Her first book in English, Stories from Tehran, was released in 2018; and her most recent novel, Thirty Shadow Birds, was published by Inanna Publications in 2019. She lives in Toronto.