Shahrnush Parsipur, a bold Iranian novelist, dies at 80

Iranian novelist and feminist writer Shahrnush Parsipur has died at age 80, leaving a legacy of courageous and original Persian literature. Parsipur consistently wrote women into previously excluded spaces like politics and spirituality, advocating for their autonomy despite imprisonment and exile under both the Shah and the Islamic Republic. Her most celebrated work, "Women Without Men," a banned novella exploring female freedom, gained international recognition and was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in March 2026.