Khīzesh-e gīsūhā Persian 2025

“The Uprising of Tresses” (Kheyzesh-e Gisooha) is a curated anthology of 54 short stories by 50 women writers, selected from the festival “Women, Architects of Contemporary Iranian Storytelling.” The festival was organized to support women writers and resist censorship, with more than 220 works submitted to the competition.

The book brings together diverse female voices and perspectives, and its key themes include:

Resistance to censorship and repression

Women’s narratives of Iranian society

Literature of resistance and freedom of expression

Cultural and social challenges faced by women

This collection stands as a powerful literary document of women’s creativity, courage, and dissent, highlighting storytelling as a form of cultural resistance and social engagement in contemporary Iran.
“Each story in this collection is a cry that breaks through the boundaries of silence.”

The Uprising of Tresses (Kheyzesh-e Gisooha) is a short story anthology produced as the outcome of a literary festival organized through the joint efforts of Khaneh-ye Jahani-ye Mah Gereftegan (directed by Sahra Kalantari), Kanun-e Andisheh va Qalam (directed by Masoud Amini / M. Ravan-Shid), and Ketab-e Arzan Publishing, Sweden (directed by Nemat Alimoradi).

The collection is the selected work of the festival “Women Writers: Architects of Today’s Iranian Storytelling,” an event held with the aim of supporting Iranian women writers and standing against censorship and repression. The festival witnessed broad and passionate participation by writers from around the world.

More than 220 submissions competed in the festival, from which 54 short stories by 50 women writers were ultimately selected. Each story reflects the resistance of women who have risen against limitations, turning the pen into a tool of protest and truth-telling. These stories not only mirror the social and cultural challenges faced by women in Iran, but also embody their determination to break through censorship and cross forbidden boundaries.

The executive secretary of the festival and editor of the collection, Azam Esmaili, played a central role in compiling and editing this volume, standing in solidarity with the voices of free-thinking women throughout the process.

The jury, composed of Fariba Seddighi, Nahid Shams, Fariba Chalabi-Yani, Soudabeh Esteghlal, Roya Molakhah, Reza Najafi, and Masoud Amini (M. Ravan-Shid), carefully reviewed the submissions to ensure that women’s narratives appear in the collection with their full depth and impact.

The Uprising of Tresses is not only a testament to women writers’ struggle against censorship and oppression, but also a bold affirmation of their courage in reclaiming the right to freedom of expression. In this book, every word, every line, and every story is a cry that shatters silence and imagines another world—a world in which truth is no longer captive to power.

An English edition of the collection is also planned for international readers.

In hope of freedom and liberation for all women of Iran from the chains of censorship, and in solidarity with everyone, everywhere, who continues to fight for freedom of expression.