Renowned Iranian writer Shahranush Parsipour, whose subversive works of feminist fiction landed her repeatedly in jail, has died at the age of 80.
A pioneer of women’s literature in Iran, Parsipour satirized the country’s patriarchal culture in novels including Women Without Men and Touba and the Meaning of Night. He was imprisoned four times under the Shah and then the Islamic Republic.
In 2026, her novel Women Without Men was first published in the UK – translated from Persian into English by Faridoun Farrokh – and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize.
His UK publisher Denis Rose Hansen said, “Shahrnoosh’s legacy in literary history really can’t be compared to anyone else’s.” “Her singular vision and incredible courage has been and will be a guiding star for so many people. Having been in touch with her just a few days ago, she was as she always was: generous, warm, articulate, sharp, brilliant. She will be greatly missed.”
Born on 17 February 1946 in Tehran, Parsipour studied sociology at the University of Tehran. Her first novel, The Dog and the Long Winter, was published in 1974, making her Iran’s second female novelist after Simin Daneshvar and her book Souvashun in 1969. Parsipur’s Beginning is about a young Iranian woman who is introduced to activism through her brother and his friends.
Parsipour was first jailed after resigning from his job as a producer on an Iranian state TV program in connection with the murder of two poets by Savak, the Iranian secret police. He was later jailed for four years and seven months without any formal charges in the 80s. He wrote about his experience in a prison memoir, which will be published in its entirety in English for the first time in 2027.
In 1989, she published Touba and the Meaning of Night, a historical novel that told the life story of Touba, a woman, set against the ever-changing Iran of the 20th century. After her father’s death, 14-year-old Touba marries a 52-year-old man, who immediately divorces her due to her outspoken nature. She then marries a prince, with whom she has four children, but when he becomes unfaithful, she divorces him, and eventually becomes a matriarch. The novel will be published in English translation in the UK by Penguin in 2028.
In 1989, Parsipur also published Women Without Men, the title of which was a nod to Hemingway’s Men Without Women. Set in Tehran during the 1953 coup, the novel connects the stories of five women who seek freedom from patriarchal oppression in a garden. A film adaptation directed by Shirin Neshat was released in 2009.
The novel was successful underground in Iran; Soon, it caught the eye of the wife of an Islamic Republic official and Parsipour was again jailed, this time due to his depiction of women’s sexuality. Since 1994, Parsipour has lived in political exile in the US.
“The women of Iran have changed a lot, a lot of women without hijab,” she said in an interview with the Guardian in March. “They don’t care what the Islamic Republic thinks.” Iran’s women, he said, “will cause the downfall of the Islamic Republic.”
Parsipur wanted to become a writer since childhood. in the other march interviewShe said she had read the Persian translation of Great Expectations 36 times in a row, and credited it with teaching her how to write. As well as Dickens, he also cited Dostoevsky and Kafka as influences.
His other books include The Blue Reason, Shiva, Trial Offer, and Tea Ceremony in the Presence of the Wolf.
