Dar ḥāshiyeh Persian 2025

On the Margins, written by Farzaneh Raji, is a candid and reflective narrative of the author’s lived experiences, resistance, and decades of social and intellectual activism. The book is the result of years of observation, writing, and living on the margins of Iran’s contemporary history—margins marked by suffering, endurance, and persistent hope.

Having faced the execution of her husband and two brothers in the 1980s, years of life in hiding, and three years of political imprisonment, Raji continued her work after release with a focus on women’s issues, literature, and cinema. On the Margins reflects this turbulent trajectory: the voice of a woman shaped by repression and loss, who transforms lived experience into a tool for critical reflection, social analysis, and public awareness.

The book is neither a conventional memoir nor a dry theoretical text. Rather, it is a hybrid of personal narrative, a distinctly female perspective, social critique, and sustained attention to issues often pushed aside or silenced. The author’s long-standing engagements with feminism, Marxism, social justice, and culture—previously evident in her fiction and translations—are strongly present throughout this work.

On the Margins is intended for readers interested in Iran’s contemporary history, social movements, women’s issues, and authentic narratives of resistance. It conveys, in clear and humane prose, the accumulated voice of a lifetime marked by experience, perseverance, and hope.