This is indeed great news!

The celebrated Iranian-American author Azar Nafisi will deliver a lecture on freedom, women’s rights, democracy, and the power of literature on April 15 at Wellesley College at 7 pm. Admission is free.

Dr. Nafisi is the author of many books, most notably Reading Lolita in Teheran, which was on the New York Times’ national bestseller list for more than two years! It was published in 2003 and has been translated into 32 languages.

Born in Iran, Dr. Nafisi earned her Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma. She returned to Iran and taught English at the University of Teheran. She was expelled from the faculty for refusing to wear the veil. She came to live in the U.S. in 1997 and became an American citizen in 2008.

Her most recent book (2022) is Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times. What could be more appropriate at this moment?

If you care about democracy and freedom; if you care about the plight of women; if you care about the future of Iran; if you care about literature; if you want to meet one of my personal heroes—-set aside April 15 to come to Wellesley and hear from a courageous and eloquent woman.

The lecture is part of an annual series–the Diane Silvers Ravitch ’60 Lecture– that I sponsor at my Alma Mater. I will be there, of course.

If you have any questions, contact Soo Hong at shong@wellesley.edu. She is chair of the Education Department and the first Diane Silvers Ravitch ’60 Professor of Public Education and the Common Good.

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