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Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2004.

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Azar Nafisi was thirteen years old when she left her homeland, Iran. She went to Lancaster, England to finish her studies. She went there with her family.

Quote 1 “Not having registered as yet that the home she had left seventeen years before, at the age of thirteen, was not home anymore.” Page 81

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When she was in Switzerland, in her sophomore year, while studying at school, her principal gave her the news that her dad, who was the youngest mayor in Tehran’s history, had been jailed. Which made her not continue her Swiss education.

Quote 2 “In my sophomore year, while studying at a horrible school in Switzerland…There I was told that they had just heard on the radio that my father, the youngest mayor in Tehran’s history, had been jailed.” Page 45

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Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security

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A while before her eighteenth birthday, Azar got married to a man who was cruel to her, did not respect her or her choices.

Quote 3 “Before my eighteenth birthday…I married a man whose most important credential was that he wasn’t like us—he offered a way of life which, in contrast to ours, seemed pragmatic and uncomplicated; and he was so sure of himself.” Page 83

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After her marriage, Azar moved to America because of her husband’s education. In America they lived in Oklahoma.

Quote 4 “I moved with him to Norman, Oklahoma, where he was getting his master’s in engineering at the University of Oklahoma.” Page 83

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Azar Nafisi is the critically acclaimed author of Reading Lolita in Tehran, a New York Times bestseller that is published in thirty-two languages. Nafisi is also known for her other works including, Things I've Been Silent About, Republic of Imagination, and That Other World: Nabokov and the Puzzle of Exile.

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After being married for six months Azar wanted to divorce him but she was waiting for her dad to get out of jail first. Which took her another three years to divorce him because her husband also refused to divorce her. After her divorce Azar stayed in Norman and attended the University of Oklahoma.

Quote 5 “He returned home while I stayed on in Norman, the only foreign student in the English Department.” Page 83

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When she was abroad in England and Switzerland, and later lived in America, she always attempted to shape other places according to her concept of Iran.

Quote 6 “During my first years abroad—when I was in school in England and Switzerland, and later, when I lived in America, I attempted to shape other places according to my concept of Iran.” Page 82

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Azar Nafisi discusses her new book, "Read Dangerously"

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Azar’s mother side of her family was known for their contributions to literature and science. So when her dad was jailed her family felt more proud of his term in jail than when he was a mayor. Which led Azar to join the Iranian student movement.

Quote 7 “My father’s imprisonment and my family’s vague nationalist sympathies had sensitized me towards politics.” Page 85

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In the fall of 1977 in September Azar married Bijan Naderi who she met two years earlier at a meeting at Berkeley where she fell in love with him.

Quote 8 “The fall of 1977 was memorable for two events: my marriage in September and…” Page 86

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In 1979, Azar returned back to Iran, and just over a month after she landed at the Tehran airport, she became a teacher in the English Department at the University of Tehran. Page 87

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Azar Nafisi was featured during the 2017 Winter Words series, where she presented The Republic of Imagination and spoke about the importance of literature in a democratic society. Nafisi the author of the national bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, a harrowing portrait of the Islamic revolution in Iran and how it affected one university professor and her students. The book was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Memoir and was named one of the "100 Best Books of the Decade" by The Times (London). It has spent over 117 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated in 32 languages. Nafisi's most recent book, The Republic of Imagination: America in Three Books, discusses the vital role of fiction in the United States today. Azar Nafisi is currently a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC, where she was a professor of aesthetics, culture, and literature, and taught courses on the relation between culture and politics, as well as was Director of The Dialogue Project & Cultural Conversations. She has lectured and written extensively in English and Persian on the political implications of literature and culture, as well as the human rights of Iranian women and girls.

PRESS

Iranian Author Azar Nafisi on Why Fiction Matters for Democracy
The Aspen Institute, Azar Nafisi, January 24, 2017

Winter Words Series Opens Tuesday with Azar Nafisi
The Aspen Times, Andrew Travers, January 16, 2017

On 20th Anniversary, Aspen Words Welcomes Azar Nafisi
Aspen Daily News, January 9, 2017

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Azar Nafisi was featured during the 2017 Winter Words series, where she presented The Republic of Imagination and spoke about the importance of literature in a democratic society. Nafisi the author of the national bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, a harrowing portrait of the Islamic revolution in Iran and how it affected one university professor and her students.

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In the University of Tehran Azar joined department meetings and faculty meetings in support of women, workers, and militant Kurdish or Turkmen minorities. Page 99

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During the Islamic Revolution, the government forbade foreign-langauge books. They closed all the bookstores that sell it. But Azar took the risk and continued on reading Gatsby in the University of Tehran to her students.

Quote 9 “When we started reading Gatsby in November, but couldn’t finish it until, January, because of the constant interruption…I was taking some risks in teaching such a book at such time, when certain books had been banned as morally harmful.” Page 108

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In early November, at the University of Tehran, Azar canceled her class and went to a protest meeting. She wanted to oppose the government’s attempts to impose the veil on the large demonstrations against the revolutionary government’s policies against women, and she was determined not to miss any more. Page 111

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The University wanted all women to wear scarf. But Azar refused to wear scarf or the veil as a piece of cloth. Due to not wearing a scarf Azar was expelled from the University.

Quote 10 “When I thought at the university—rituals governing what I was forced to wear, how I was expected to act, the gestures I had to remember to control.” Page 9

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#14 The University of Allameh Tabataba’I

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#14 The University of Allameh Tabataba’I

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Azar then began teaching at Allameh Tabataba’I University. But after a period of time she wanted to resign from her position, however the University didn’t accept her resignation. So then Azar stopped going to the university which forced the University to expel her.

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In the fall of 1995, after resigning from her last academic post, she decided to indulge herself and fulfill a dream. She chose seven of her best and most committed students and invited them to come to her home every Thursday morning to discuss literature. Page 3

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Her first meeting with her secret book discussions with a group of female students in her home was on Thursday in early september. All of her students were women; Nassrin, Mahshid, Manna, Azin, Yassi, Mitra, and Sanaz. One of her students who was a male wanted to join her group but due to the Islamic Revolution Azar only chose her female students. She was scared that they would get caught. Page 7

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Reading and Thinking Freely - Azar Nafisi | The Open Mind

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With her female students in her home, Azar read them foreign-langauge books. The books were: Reading Lolita, Invitation to a Beheading, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, and A Thousand and One Nights. Which they used as an escape from the cruel reality. Part 1 Reading Lolita

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In the summer of 1996, when Azar, her two children and Yassi were staying home a sudden knock was heard on the door. Two men from the Revolutionary Committee came to raid her house and to take her satellite dish away. Page 66-67

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Azar Nafisi had always had nightmares and woke up screaming because she thought she would never be able to leave the country. This was partly based on fact, since the first two times when she tried to leave she was turned down at the airport and once she was escorted to the headquarters of the Revolutionary Court. In the end she did not leave Iran for eleven years. Page 107

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On June 24, 1997, Azar finally left Iran after 18 years. She left with her husband and her family to America. As she left Iran her students also left Iran where some of them went to Europe or America.