Sahar Delijani
Sahar Delijani | |
|---|---|
 Delijani in 2013 | |
| Born | 1983 (age 42–43) Tehran, Iran |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Language | Persian, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Azeri |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) |
| Notable works | Children of the Jacaranda Tree |
Sahar Delijani (Persian: سحر دلیجانی; born 1983) is an Iranian American author. Her internationally acclaimed debut novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree, has been translated into 32 languages and published in more than 75 countries.[1]
Life
Sahar Delijani was born in Evin Prison in Tehran while both her parents were detained as leftist political activists, fighting against the newly established Islamic regime.[2] Delijani's mother spent two years and a half in prison and her father four years. Her uncle, her father's younger brother, however, was among thousands of political prisoners executed and buried in mass graves by the regime in 1988.[3]
Delijani, her older brother and her cousin were raised by her grandparents and aunt until their parents' release.[4] Much of this experience, inside and outside Evin Prison, serves as an inspiration for Delijani's debut novel, which spans the decades from 1983 to 2011 and the Iranian Green Movement, when young Iranians once again take to the streets, set to make their own history.[5]
In 1996, at the age of 12, Delijani and her family moved to Northern California.[6] In 2002, she attended University of California, Berkeley, earning a BA degree in Comparative Literature. Graduating in 2006, she moved to Turin, Italy where she lived for over 10 years. She now lives in New York City.
Selected Works/Publications
Delijani’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Literary Hub, Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Kweli Jouranl, Bellevue Literary Review and internationally on Zeit Online, Corriere della Sera, La Nazione, BBC Persian, and DW Persian.
She is the recipient of the 2023 de Groot Foundation Courage to Write Grant, the 2023 Society of Authors and Author’s Foundation Grant, and of fellowships at Tin House, Art Omi, Hedgebrook and Monson Arts. Her work has furthermore been longlisted for the 2022 Granum Foundation Prize, and nominated several times for the Pushcart Prize and the Best American Essay Series.
Delijani has recently appeared on ABC News, Al Jazeera, BBC, NPR and Channel 4 News to discuss Iran and the political realities of the region following a viral post opposing the Israel-Iran war that garnered over four million views.
References
- "Sahar Delijani Official Page Simon & Schuster". simonandschuster.com.
- Barnett, Laura (6 July 2013). "Sahar Delijani: I had to tell my family's story of the Iranian executions". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
- "The Bloody Red Summer of 1988". pbs.org.
- "Interview: Prison Child Of The Iranian Revolution". RFERL.
- Rehm, Diane (20 June 2013). "Sahar Delijani:Children of the Jacaranda Tree". The Diane Rehm Show. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
- "The nomadism of Sahar Delijanib". mint.
External links
- What Iranians Lost When Israel Bombed Evin Prison | Sahar Delijani
- ABC News Interview with Sahar Delijani
- Channel 4 News Interview with Sahar Delijani
- NPR Interview with Sahar Delijani
- Sahar Delijani's Children of the Jacaranda Tree Book Review
- Sahar Delijani's Interview with BookBrowse.com
- Books by Sahar Delijani, Thriftbooks
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
 First edition | |
| Author | Sahar Delijani |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Literary Fiction |
| Publisher | Atria/Simon&Schuster |
Publication date | 2013 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & ebook) |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | 9781476709093 |
Children of the Jacaranda Tree is the internationally acclaimed debut novel of Iranian writer Sahar Delijani. Partially inspired by the writer's family history, it is a story about one of the worst best kept secrets of post-revolutionary Iran: the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners. The novel depicts not only the lives of the victims but also those of their families and above all their children. The novel is a poignant attempt at describing the genesis of a dictatorship, how it begins, how it affects a people, and what it means to resist it.
Children of the Jacaranda Tree is Delijani's first published and fourth written novel. In her words, "the other novels were more like homework. I had to learn how to write through writing." Completed in 2012, Children of the Jacaranda Tree took three years to complete. The potential of the story was recognized immediately when a few days after its submission to the publishing world, simultaneous auctions were taking place in the US, UK, Italy, France, Brazil, Germany and Spain. The advances and rights to the book were sold in 27 territories.[1] Praised by Khaled Hosseini and named one of the top books of 2013 by The Kansas City Star,[2] the novel has been published in 75 countries and translated into 30 languages.
Plot
Children of the Jacaranda Tree is composed of seven different narratives and told from various points of views. The first half of the novel tells the story of political activists imprisoned in the 1980s by the newly established Islamic regime and their children, some born inside prison, some at home forced to watch as their parents are taken away. These children are raised by grandparents and aunts while their parents languish in prison. The second half of the novel is set twenty years later, during the 2009 Iranian election protests and the Iranian Green Movement. The children born in the first half of the book, now grown up, have to face their own decisions, whether they will be bound by their parents' past of a revolution gone astray or whether they will be able to break free, make a new beginning both for themselves and for their country.
Reception
Khaled Hosseini, the author of the Kite Runner says, "Set in post-revolutionary Iran, Delijani’s gripping novel is a blistering indictment of tyranny, a poignant tribute to those who bear the scars of it, and a celebration of the human’s heart’s eternal yearning for freedom."
The Guardian says "Children of the Jacaranda Tree is a novel with a great weight of history attached to it... This is not an "explaining Iran to those who don't know it" book, but something far more visceral." "[3]
Kirkus Reviews says, "Delijani is exceptionally talented as a writer, and the subject matter is both compelling and timely...Delijani falls back on her family’s personal experience to write this searing and somber slice-of-life novel, centered around children whose parents were singled out for persecution by the Iranian government, and scores a win with her grittiness and uncompromising realism."[4]
The Seattle Times says, "Sahar Delijani’s debut novel, brutally honest but lyrical, depicts the upheaval of post-revolutionary Iran from 1983 to 2011...It is as though Delijani is saying that even in the most miserable situation, we have a store of beauty inside us. All we have to do is look."[5]
The New Internationalist says "Spanning the years 1983 to 2011, Children of the Jacaranda Tree offers a personal and often painful look at post-revolutionary Iranian history, from the height of the Iran-Iraq war to the 2009 election protests and beyond… Evocative and emotive – and highly recommended."
References
- Alison Flood (April 16, 2012). "Publishers go on spending spree ahead of London book fair". The Guardian. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- "The Star's Top Books of the Year". The Kansas City Star. April 16, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
- Shamsie, Kamila (July 12, 2013). "Children of the Jacaranda Tree-review". The Guardian. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
- "Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani – review". Kirkus Reviews. March 3, 2013.
- Kirchner, Bharti (June 28, 2013). "The Legacy of Repression on Generations of Iranians". Book review. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
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