Zuyā Pīrzād

Zoya Pirzad (born 1952, Abadan) is a prominent Iranian-Armenian author, translator, and fiction writer known for her subtle, fluid, and feminine prose. She began her literary career with translations and gained widespread acclaim with her short story collection Like Every Other Afternoon and her celebrated novel I’ll Turn Off the Lights (2001), which portrays the quiet struggles of a housewife in 1960s Abadan. The novel received critical and popular success both in Iran and abroad. Her other works include We Won’t Get Used To It, The Bitter Taste of Persimmon, and several translations from French literature. Pirzad’s writing explores themes such as female identity, silence, family dynamics, and loneliness, and her minimalist style and psychological insight have earned her a devoted readership.