Outside of Iran, what has been projected onto us by biased and often commodified productions, presentations, and consumption of our stories, that we in turn internalize-a different kind of censorship and self-censorship-and keep perpetuating in our literature? Are Iranians outside of Iran writing works against stereotypes enforced by the market that are not getting published? Can we write and publish beyond these stereotypes? Does this literature tend to repeat narratives whose fulcrum is always the 1979 Iranian revolution and historical events surrounding it that defined and disrupted our 20th century? Is there value in that repetition-how World War II and Holocaust narratives are reinforced-or does it limit our imagination and output? Where is the fine balance between turning our historical realities into literature and escaping the manner in which that literature is cast? What is this literature? What is (and is not) written and published inside Iran against pervasive state and self-censorship, cleverly reframed and filtered through tropes that elude the bureaucratic minefield and censors of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance? How and what can we, outside of Iran, with limited access, know of its diversity and aesthetic innovations? How do we overcome the barriers to international exchange? Are curators of the US book market willing to find ways to bring the creativity of literature in Iran to readers in translation? The idea for this list originally came about as I raised these questions to myself: Two impulses led me to compile this list: to resist the forces that stifle the publication and distribution of literature created by Iranians and keep it off the world stage, and to celebrate the books that have reached readers of English.
To read the full list of 100 Essential Books by Iranian Writers, visit AAWW’s The Margins.
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