Shokooh Mirzādegi[1] (Persian:شکوه ميرزادگی) began her literary work, both as anovelist and apoet, withFerdowsi magazine andKayhan daily in the late 1960s inIran. Over the past four decades, she has been one of the most active figures in theIranian literary community, both inside and outside Iran.
During her time in Iran, she published two collections of short stories,Bi-gharāri-hā-ye Pāydār (بی قراری های پايدار – Permanent Restlessness) andĀghāz-e Dow'wom (آغاز دوم – The Second Beginning), two plays,Tab'idi-e Sāl-e 3000 (تبعيدی سال 3000 – The Exiled of the Year 3000) andMan Harekat Mikonam, Pas Hastam (من حرکت می کنم پس هستم – I Move, Therefore, I Am) and a number of children's books. Amongst the latter,Gol va Āftāb (گل و آفتاب – The Flower and the Sun) is the most well-known. She also wrote numerous articles of the literary, social andfeministic nature. She was further the editor-in-chief ofTalāsh (Struggle) Magazine.
Alongside her activities as a teacher ofPersian language andLiterature, she has been actively involved in issues related toeducation andwomen's studies, the results of which have been published in the form of a series of articles and papers.[2]
In the early 1970s, using her ex-husband's surname and writing under Shokooh Farhang, she participated in the activities of a group of Iranian writers and artists to freepolitical prisoners. This led to their arrest and trial. She, along with many others of this group, were initially sentenced to death. On accepting to plea for pardon on aTV show-trial, she and some other co-defendants were freed after a while. Two of the group's members were executed however and some spent long-term prison sentences injail.
After regaining her freedom, she began writing again and in 1977 was able to obtain permission to travel abroad. She settled for some time inLondon but before long returned home to witness therevolution of 1978–1979. After the new regime came to power, she was arrested again and was released only after the intervention of some Human Rights activists, notablyAbdolkarim Lahiji ofInternational Federation of Human Rights Leagues.
She returned to London to begin her life in exile in 1980. Her works in this period comprises publishing of a socio-political periodical calledMoghāvemat (مقاومت – Resistance), and a socio-literary periodical calledMamnu'e-hā (ممنوعه ها – The Forbiddens). She co-edited the latter with the lateManouchehr Mahjoubi. She also wrote a pamphlet on the historical conditions of Iranian women calledSay'r-e nozuli-ye moghe'iyyat-e zan az āghaz tā eslām (سير نزولی موقعيت زن از آغاز تا اسلام – The downward trend of the social status of women from beginning untilIslam). Together withEsmail Nooriala, she co-edited a literary magazine calledPuyeshgarān (پويشگران – Explorers) for eight years.
She founded the Iranian Women Organization of Great Britain and participated in the foundation of Society for Iranian Writers and Artists in Britain. She also has founded the Center for Iranian Women's Documents and Studies in the United States.
Her first major novel,Bigāneh-yi dar man (بيگانه ای در من – A Stranger Within Me), was published in 1993. Three years later, she published a collection of her short storiesGolden Ārk (گلدن آرک – Golden Ark) and in 1987 she wrote and staged a play withfeminist themes. The English translation ofBigāneh-yi dar man, A Stranger Within Me, was published in 2000. Her other works have been translated into French, German andJapanese.
She has also published numerous articles on literary and social subjects during her time in the United Kingdom and, now, the US, and has widely travelled and lectured on literary and socio-feminist subjects.
She and her husband, Esmail Nooriala, immigrated to the United States in 1995, where between 2001 and 2005 they produced and hosted two weeklytelevision programs,Kārgāh-e Andisheh (کارگاه انديشه – The Thought Workshop) andBar Miz-e Tashrih (بر ميز تشريح – On the Operating Table). The main emphasis of these programs were on subjects related to women, human rights and political prisoners. The programs were broadcast via satellite and reached the entire globe, including Iran.
In August 2005, on finding that whenSivand Dam in theFars province, Iran, became operational, the archaeological sites of thePasargadae Plains would be inundated, she, together with another individual, founded theInternational Committee to Save the Archaeological Sites of the Pasargadae Plains, and has since then supervised the activities of its international branches.
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