This is a list of women writers who were born in Iran or whose writings are closely associated with that country.
A Masoumeh Abad (born 1962), activist, politician, and non-fiction author Janet Afary (born 1960), feminist, historian, non-fiction writer Mahnaz Afkhami (born 1941), feminist, non-fiction writer, now in the United States Pegah Ahmadi (born 1974), poet, critic, translator Mahshid Amirshahi (born 1937), novelist, short story writer, critic, journalist, translator Jaleh Amouzgar (born 1939), linguist, anthropologist, academic Akram Monfared Arya (born 1946), pilot, poet, short story writer, artist, now living in Sweden, writes in Persian, Swedish and English Lady Amin (1886–1983), mystic, author of works on Islamic sciences Mahshid Amirshahi (born 1937), novelist, short story writer, critic, journalist, translator Noushafarin Ansari (born 1939), librarian, educator, journalist Mastoureh Ardalan (1805–1848), Kurdish poet, philosopher, historian Fakhr-Ozma Arghun (1898–1966), poet, teacher, journalist, feminist Mina Assadi (born 1943), poet, journalist, living in Sweden Bibi Khanoom Astarabadi (c.1858–1921), feminist, literary historian Ghazaleh Alizadeh (1949–1996), writer, poet
B Rakhshan Bani-E'temad (born 1954), film director, screenwriter Najmieh Batmanglij (born 1957), Iranian-American cookbook writer Simin Behbahani (1927–2014), acclaimed poet Niloofar Beyzaie (born 1967), playwright, theatre director, living in German Taraneh Boroumand playwright, writer, poet, translator Mona Borzouei, (born 1984), poet and songwriter
D Simin Daneshvar (1921–2012), acclaimed early female novelist, short story writer, translator, educator Soraya Darabi (born 1955), journalist, trade union activist Sahar Delijani (born 1983), widely translated novelist, author of Children of the Jacaranda Tree, living between the United States and Italy Sediqeh Dowlatabadi (1882–1961), feminist, journalist Firoozeh Dumas (born 1965), Iranian-American memoirist, humorous writer, author of Funny in Farsi
E Shirin Ebadi (born 1947), Nobel peace prize winner, human rights activist, non-fiction writer Amanda Enayati (born 1967), columnist, communication strategist Camelia Entekhabifard (born 1973), poet, journalist, and memoirist, living in the United States Parvin E'tesami (1907–1941), acclaimed classical poet, essayist Mansoureh Ettehadieh (graduated 1956), historian, educator, non-fiction writer, novelist Tahereh Eybod (born 1963), author, researcher, instructor, critic, and journalist.
F Forough Farrokhzad (1935–1967), influential poet, film director, poetry translated into several languages including English Pooran Farrokhzad, since the 1990s: poet, playwright, encyclopedist Nazila Fathi (born 1970), author and Iranian correspondent for The New York Times
G Zarah Ghahramani (born 1981), Iranian-born Australian memoirist, author of My Life as a Traitor Shusha Guppy (1935–2008), singer, memoirist, writer, critic, journal editor; she lived in London
H Fattaneh Haj Seyed Javadi (born 1945), best selling novelist Roya Hakakian (born 1966), Iranian-American poet, journalist, memoirist, essayist, television producer Maryam Heydarzadeh (born 1977), poet, lyricist Maryam Hooleh (born 1978), poet, novelist, filmmaker Ava Homa, Iranian Kurdish writer, journalist, and educator
J Rosa Jamali (born 1977), poet, playwright, translator
K Sheema Kalbasi (born 1972), widely translated poet, human rights activist, living in the United States Mehrangiz Kar (born 1944), women's rights activist, essayist, author of Crossing the Red Line Persis Karim (born 1962), literature scholar, author, and professor; director of the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University; lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Leila Kasra (1939–1989), poet, lyricist Fatemeh Keshavarz (born 1952), poet, educator, literary historian, living in the United States Porochista Khakpour (born 1978), Iranian-American novelist, essayist
L Shahla Lahiji (1942–2024), feminist, translator, publisher
M Mahsati (c.1089–c.1159), early Persian poet writing in quatrains Marsha Mehran (1977–2014), widely translated novelist, author of Pomegranate Soup; she lived in Argentina, the United States, Australia and Ireland. Mozhgan Babamarandi is an eminent Iranian writer best known for children and young adult fiction, since 1996 Farzaneh Milani, Iranian-American educator, since early 1990s: non-fiction writer, poet Azadeh Moaveni (born 1976), Iranian-American journalist, memoirist, author of Lipstick Jihad, now living in London Roza Montazemi (c.1921–2009), popular cookbook writer Minoo Moshiri, essayist, translator and journalist Granaz Moussavi (born 1976), Iranian-Australian poet, screenwriter, film director
N Azar Nafisi (born 1955), feminist, memoirist, literary critic, author of Reading Lolita in Tehran Afsaneh Najmabadi (born 1946), Iranian-American historian, educator, literary historian, author of The Story of the Daughters of Quchan Marina Nemat (born 1965), memoirist
O Ghazal Omid, memoirist, author of A True Odyssey of a Woman's Struggle in Islamic Iran Against Personal and Political Forces (2005)
P Shahrnush Parsipur (born 1946), novelist, short story writer, children's writer, translator Zoya Pirzad (born 1952), Iranian-Armenian novelist, works translated into several languages
R
SA Reyhani (born 1976), journalist, children's writer
S Leila Sadeghi (born 1977), writer Sepideh Shamlou (born 1968), writer Shadi Sadr (born 1974), lawyer, journalist, women's rights activist Nazi Safavi (born 1967), novelist, author of Hallway to Paradise Tahereh Saffarzadeh (1936–2008), poet, non-fiction writer, translator, educator Parinoush Saniee, since 2003, novelist, author of the widely translated The Book of Fate Homa Sarshar, Iranian-American author, activist, feminist and journalist Marjane Satrapi (1969–2026), Iranian-born French novelist, illustrator, children's writer Louisa Shafia, Iranian-American chef and cookbook writer Mahasti Shahrokhi (born 1956), novelist, poet Siba Shakib, novelist, filmmaker, author of the widely translated Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep (2002) Shahla Sherkat (born 1956), journalist, feminist writer, journal publisher Zandokht Shirazi (1900–1953), feminist, poet, educator Nasrin Sameni (Born 1958), Novelist with over 70 books published
T Táhirih, pseudonym of Fatimah Baraghani (c.1814–1852), poet, theologian Goli Taraghi (born 1939), novelist, short story writer Niloufar Talebi, memoirist, nonfiction writer, literary translator, multidisciplinary artist
V Fariba Vafi (born 1963), novelist Lobat Vala (born 1930), poet, feminist, now living in London
Y Chista Yasrebi (born 1968), writer, literary critic, translator, publisher Elham Yaghoubian, since the 1990s: novelist, living in the United States
See also List of women writers
References