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Bahíyyih Nakhjavání is a Persian writer educated in the United Kingdom and the United States. She now lives in France where she teaches. She taught European and American literature in Belgium.
Her first novel The Saddlebag - A Fable for Doubters and Seekers was an international bestseller. It describes events set in the Najd plateau along the pilgrim route between Mecca and Medina during one day in 1844-1845, when a mysterious saddlebag passes from hand to hand, and influences the lives of each person who comes across it. The main characters are the Thief, the Bride, the Chieftain, the Moneychanger, the Slave, the Pilgrim, the Priest, the Dervish and the Corpse. The story has been inspired by chapter VII of The Dawn-breakers by Nabíl-i-A'zam.
The novel Paper - The Dreams of A Scribe is an allegory centered on a Scribe who is searching for perfect paper for writing his masterpiece. It is set in Máh-Kú, a bordertown in north-west Persia, between the Summer of 1847 and the Spring of 1848. It contains 19 chapters which are structured symmetrically around five dreams. Other main characters are the Mullah, the Widow, the Warden, his Mother and his Daughter, and the Prisoner.
La femme qui lisait trop (The Woman Who Read Too Much) : In the middle of the nineteenth century, Tahirih Qurratu’l-Ayn, a poetess and scholar from Qazvin, shocked the political powers of Qajar Persia and violated religious convention by casting aside her veil. Inspired by this legendary figure, the writer adopts the revolving points of view, of mother, sister, daughter and wife respectively, to trace the impact of this woman's actions on her contemporaries and read her prophetic insights regarding her times, and perhaps ours too.
Bahíyyih Nakhjavání's books have been translated into many languages.
In 2007, she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Liège. Her last novel was nominated for the 2008 Yashater Award.
Bibliography[edit]
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (1979). When We Grow Up. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-086-1.
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (1981). Response. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-107-8.
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (1983). Four on an Island. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-174-4.
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (1990). Asking Questions: A Challenge to Fundamentalism. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-314-3.
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (2000). The Saddlebag - A Fable for Doubters and Seekers. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 0-8070-8342-9.
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (2004). Paper - The Dreams of A Scribe. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. ISBN 0-7475-6921-5.
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (2007). The Woman Who Read Too Much. (not published in English yet).
- Bahiyyih Nakhjavani (2009). La donna che leggeva troppo. Italy: BUR Biblioteca Univ. Rizzoli. ISBN 8817030902.
