Bār-i geryah’ī bar shānah dāram Persiska (Farsi) 2025

A Glimpse into Contemporary Iranian Fiction brings together a diverse collection of short stories by notable voices in today’s Iranian literature. Curated by Farhad Keshvari, this anthology showcases a rich spectrum of themes, styles, and narrative approaches that reflect the complexities, hopes, and lived experiences of contemporary Iran.

The collection features works by Mostafa Rahimi, Amin Faghiri, Samad Taheri, Saeed Abbaspour, Hossein Rahimi, Hossein Moghaddas, Sahil Sohrabi, and several other distinguished writers who have each contributed significantly to the landscape of modern Persian fiction.

A special section is dedicated to three writers from Rasht’s “Wednesday Story Circle”—Shabnam Bozorgi, Raheleh Sabetnia, and Sara Hadeghi—offering fresh regional perspectives and unique storytelling from northern Iran.

This anthology serves as an inviting gateway for readers interested in discovering the evolving currents of Iranian storytelling and the emerging voices shaping its literary future.
Back Cover Text:

The absence of freedom is one of the main obstacles to expressing the thoughts and inner reflections of a writer and shaping a story. Censorship, with its sharp blade, builds a wall against uninhibited writing and the free play of imagination. Depending on the ruling ideology, the scissors of censorship cut through various subjects. Beyond harming literature, art, and culture, censorship also inflicts psychological and personal damage.

In a censored society, individuals often cannot be their true selves; they must suppress opinions and inner thoughts for fear of punishment. From childhood, people are constrained in expressing certain ideas, and throughout school, work, and public life, the barriers of censorship harm their psychological well-being. Many of their desires are rejected and pushed into the subconscious, sometimes resurfacing as mental health issues, leaving the individual psychologically distressed. The blade of censorship damages a writer’s creativity—and even more harmful is self-censorship, which carries its own profound psychological consequences.