Sahar Delijani
Delijani in 2013
Delijani in 2013
Born1983 (age 39–40)
Tehran, Iran
OccupationNovelist
LanguagePersian, English, Italian, French, Spanish, Azeri
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Notable worksChildren of the Jacaranda Tree

Sahar Delijani (Persian: سحر دلیجانی; born 1983) is an Iranian author. Her debut novel, Children of the Jacaranda Tree, has been published in more than 75 countries and translated into 30 languages.[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 has moved back to California where she is working on her second novel.

Twice a Pushcart nominee and longlisted for the Granum Foundation Prize and Le Livre de Poche Prix des Lecteurs, Delijani's writing has appeared in several literary magazines and newspapers including Literary Hub, Kweli Journal, BBC Persian, The Bellevue Review, Slice Magazine, DW Persian, Corriere della Sera[7] and La Nazione.

Selected Works/Publications

  • Delijani, Sahar (2013). The Atria Summer 2013 Beach-Read Bag: A Free Collection of Excerpts from Some of Our Favorite Writers. Atria Books. p. 288. ISBN 978-1-476-73517-7.
  • Delijani, Sahar (2013). Children of the Jacaranda Tree. Atria Books. p. 306.

Recognition and reception

Children of the Jacaranda Tree came to immediate international attention well before its publication at the 2012 London Book Fair[8][9] as a multi country simultaneous auction[10] started among different publishers, selling North American rights to Atria Publishing/Simon & Schuster; U.K. rights to Weidenfeld & Nicolson/Orion Publishing Group; and Italian rights to Rizzoli.[11] The novel was released in June 2013 to positive reviews[12][13][14][15] and was furthermore hailed by Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, who calls it "a celebration of the human heart's eternal yearning for freedom" and names it as one of his recommended books in the March 2013 newsletter of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation.[16] Children of the Jacaranda Tree was among Kansas City Star's Top books of 2013.[17] In December 2012, Delijani was heralded by the Italian national newspaper, La Stampa, as one of the literary protagonists of 2013.[18]

Children of the Jacaranda Tree was a finalist for Elle's Gran Premio 2014,[19] a Women's National Book Association's Great Group Read 2014 selection.[20] CBS Local Best Book Club Picks for Fall 2014[21] and a candidate for Prix des Lecteurs Sélection 2015 by Le Livre de Poche.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Sahar Delijani Official Page Simon & Schuster". simonandschuster.com.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ "The Bloody Red Summer of 1988". pbs.org.
  4. ↑ "Interview: Prison Child Of The Iranian Revolution". RFERL.
  5. ↑ Rehm, Diane (20 June 2013). "Sahar Delijani:Children of the Jacaranda Tree". The Diane Rehm Show. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "The nomadism of Sahar Delijanib". mint.
  7. ↑ "Teheran-Torino Seguendo il profumo della nonna," Corriere della Sera,
  8. ↑ "Big names buzzy debuts". scribd.com.
  9. ↑ "Publishers go on spending spree ahead of London Book Fair". guardian.com. 16 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "Deals: Week of April 16, 2012". publishersweekly.com.
  11. ↑ "Atria lands hot debut". bookbizbootcamp.com.
  12. ↑ Shamsie, Kamila (12 July 2013). "Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani- review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  13. ↑ "Children of the Jacaranda Tree – Review". kirkusreviews.com.
  14. ↑ "Children of the Jacaranda Tree – Review". bookreporter.com.
  15. ↑ Kirchner, Bharti (28 June 2013). "The Legacy of repression on generations of Iranians". Seattle Times. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "Khaled's corner recommended reads". khaledhosseinifoundation.org.
  17. ↑ "The Star's Top books of the year". kansascity.com.
  18. ↑ Baudino, Mario (21 December 2012). "Persone e Luogi: 13 Protagonisti per l'anno nuovo- review". La Stampa. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  19. ↑ "Elle Gran Premio delle Lettrice". elle.it. 10 July 2014.
  20. ↑ "WNBA Great Group Read 2014". nationalreadinggroupmonth.org.
  21. ↑ "CBS Local Best Book Club Picks". CBSlocal.com. 15 October 2014.
  22. ↑ Prix des Lecteurs 2015. livredepoche.com. 25 February 2021. ISBN 9782253194668.
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