Growing up, Ironi interview with Majan Kamoli, author of The Stationary Shop. Salon Bahamaghi, my name is Leila Shams, and I am the host of Learn Persian with Choyan

Conversation. Today I'm so excited to share with you my conversation with Majan Kamani,

award-winning author of The

Stationery Shop. I actually recently read The Stationery Shop with a wonderful book club called

Ketop Club. I'll link to it in the show notes in case any of you want to join. I highly recommend.

But the founder of the group, Kimia, said that the stationery shop was the number one

recommended book when she asked her audience for suggestions for books by Middle Eastern

authors. I read the book along with about a dozen other women, and it was such an

incredible experience going through the book and talking about what emotions and memories

it brought up in all of us. The book is set in a tumultuous time in Iran,

and no, not the one you're probably thinking about, the 1979 revolution, but a couple

decades prior to that in the 1953 coup and about two lovers whose destinies were perhaps

altered because of that tumultuous time. In general, a lot of focus with Iran discourse goes to the

1979 revolution, but the 1953 coup also altered the course of Iranian history, and you

really see that in this novel. Kamoli shows that for a lot of that generation in Iran, the

coup was the ultimate loss of hope and the event from which Iran did not

recover. The book was absolutely incredible and I recommend that everyone read it, especially now,

as you'll hear me say in the interview. I really enjoyed talking to Majan, hearing about the

inspiration for the novel, her thoughts on what's happening in Iran today and where she thinks this is all leading.

And with that, let's listen to my conversation with Majan Kamali.

Mahjong Kamali, thank you so much for talking with me today.

Thank you for having me.

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