Saideh Pakravan's novel AZADI was recently published in French by Belfond Editions. A book launch party was organized at the American University in Paris. It is an imagined tale inspired by the 2009 upheavals in Iran following the deemed fraudulent elections which saw the emergence of the reformist Green Movement seeking more democracy and freedom within the framework of the Islamic Republic. The story is told in the first person through the eyes of several protagonists whose lives will be affected for ever in the course of the days and months following the student crackdowns and imprisonment of Green Movement activists by the authorities. The central characters of this novel are a student in architecture Raha, her boyfriend Kian and Hossein an anti riot police officer as well as members of their respective families and colleagues. It is a story of coming of age of a young generation aspiring to freedom yet trying to come to terms with the social, sexual and cultural trappings of their backgrounds amidst the political awakening of a nation in it's desperate quest for self determination and freedom.

AZADI by Saïdeh Pakravan Edition Belfond 448 pages, 19 Euros

The Book will also be present at the Brussels Book Fair in Belgium on 27th and 28th of Feb 2015

 

All Photos © Darius Kadivar:  at the American University in Paris , 22nd Jan 2015

with Special thanks to Mohammad reza Chahid of Iran Farda TV for clip photo of my interview with Mrs. Pakravan.

WATCH TV COVERAGE HERE

 

Related Photo Essay:

 

HEARD THIS MORNING: Saïdeh Pakravan Poems & novel presentation at A.U. in Paris 38

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