Honoring the Sofreh Tradition: An Interview with Maryam Khosrowshahi
For centuries, Iranians have celebrated important occasions such as weddings and the Persian New Year, or Nowruz, with a unique tradition known as sofreh (Persian for 'spread.') Exquisite textiles are covered with flowers, fruits,...
Book Review: Memoirs Of An Iranian Rebel, Masoud Banisadr
By Amir Taheri
You are young and unhappy because you think your people lack the freedom they deserve. So, you join a group that promises a new dawn of humanity only if you agree to...
Remembering Iradj Bagherzade: Celebrated Publisher, Founder of IB Tauris
By Kayhan Life Staff
Iradj Bagherzade, a leading international publisher of books on Middle East politics and history, passed away at his home in London on January 8. He was 80.
Relatives, friends and peers gathered...
Portraying Iranian-American Diversity: Novelist Abdi Nazemian
By Fred Parvaneh
Abdi Nazemian is an Iranian-American novelist whose nuanced stories offer a realistic portrayal of the community he was born into – without stereotyping. He recently released his second novel, "The Authentics," a...
German-Iranian Author Nava Ebrahimi Discusses Her First Novel
By Behjat Omid
A wave of titles by second-generation German-Iranian authors is making its way into German bookstores.
Critically acclaimed releases include Nava Ebrahimi’s "Sechzehn Worter" ("Sixteen Words"), Shida Bazyar’s "Nachts ist es Leise in Tehran"...
“Iran’s Napoleon” in Exile: Reza Shah’s Life After Abdication Is Evoked in New Book...
By Tim Cornwell
When the wife of the British governor of Mauritius learned that Reza Shah, the former Shah of Iran, was to make the island his home in exile, she went out of her...
“From Miniskirt to Hijab”: Author Jacqueline Saper Discusses Her Memoir
By Nazanine Nouri
Jacqueline Saper is an Iranian-American author, speaker and lecturer based in Chicago whose memoir "From Miniskirt to Hijab: A Girl in Revolutionary Iran" won the Chicago Writers Association 2020 Book of the...
Abbas Amanat’s Engaging History of Iran: Book Review
By Ariane Moshiri
Abbas Amanat's "Iran: A Modern History" is the culmination of decades of patient and careful scholarship. For those who may be intimidated by the 1,000-page opus, Amanat writes in engaging prose, and offers...
How Central Asia Has Had a “Raw Deal” for 200 Years
When people think of Central Asia, they usually associate the region much more with the former Soviet Union than with Asia or even the Middle East – and sometimes even less so with Islam....
Sotheby’s Hosts Launch of Calligraphy Book by Rose Issa and Venetia Porter
Sotheby's London recently hosted the launch of a lavishly illustrated art book on calligraphy co-authored by curator Rose Issa and by Venetia Porter, the British Museum's curator of Islamic and contemporary Middle Eastern art.
"Signs...
